Nonbeliever
by bored411
Summary: I looked at the spoon and both, the handle and the spoon bent to form a perfect circle. Lin and Naru's eyes widened and Mai was about to yell when I covered her mouth."Be careful of what you do and say, because not everything is a trick." YasuharaxOCxJohn
1. Chapter 1

**Another one I came up with and i couldn't choose which was better between this one and Left, But Not Alone. Review if you want me to continue it! I'm just looking for something people enjoy so that I can write more ^^**_  
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_Italics-thoughts, "whispering"_

* * *

Naru, Mai, and Houshou waited patiently in the small conference room provided for them, while they were investigating the on goings of Yuasa High School. Multiple paranormal phenomenons where happening across the school and Naru decided that he should call in for some help. Therefore, Hara, Ayako, and John where currently walking towards the group's base.

"So who's this again?" Ayako said, as she pointed to the person following behind them. John smiled and said, "I'll explain when we see Mai and the rest. I'm sure they will want to know as well." They all reached the room and calmly walked in. No one really noticed the other person, until Mai spoke up.

"Who's this?"

All heads turned towards said person as they examined them. They were young, probably around 19 years old. Short blonde hair that had natural streaks of brown was spiked up on their head, which revealed two rings pierced on their right ear. They were wearing a sleeveless red and black jacket, showing off a tribal tattoo that went down their arm, and grey skinny jeans. Said person turned their head and spoke.

"Xavier Freimont. I'm a friend of John's."

All heads went to John, who looked a bit frazzled at his friend's short answer.

"Yeah, she asked if she could come along with me and possibly help out. I hope you don't mind."

They were surprised at what John had said. Not because this new person wanted to help out, but because John referred to Xavier as a _she_. Xavier in no way looked anything like, what they would assume as, a proper lady. She just stared back, bored, and Naru quickly returned to the task at hand.

"I think we can just exorcise whatever comes our way, and if that doesn't work, we'll just have to figure something out…Hara, please look around the school starting with the desk and the track room lockers."

"Please, just call me Masako." She grinned as Mai steamed and Xavier rolled her eyes.

"Matsuzaki, please go with her and exorcise any spirits."

"Oh?" She put her index finger to her mouth, "Aren't you going to say anything back to Masako? I seem to remember something awful said to me before."

Naru was about to answer, but Xavier did that for him.

"Puh-leeze. Do us all a favor and go strut your stuff outside with the spirits."

A few chuckles were heard here and there, before Ayako huffed and stormed out of the room, dragging Hara with her. Naru sighed and told John and Houshou to also search for spirits while he and Lin interrogated more students.

"Mai and Xavier, stay here and wait for everyone to contact you. If everyone understands, let's begin."

They all left the room, leaving Mai and Xavier to sit around. Xavier pulled out some gum and began silently chewing a strip, while Mai sat down and came up with something to do.

"Hey, Xavier. Why did you decide to come here with John? Are you two good friends?"

Xavier slowly looked at her as she leaned back against the wall, before looking away.

"We've been friends since I stopped him from stepping on a snake a while back. I decided to go with him because I had no where else to go. Anything else?"

Mai shook her head, noticing that Xavier wanted the subject dropped. She rested her head on the palms of her hands thinking. _I wish I had paranormal powers. That way I could help out…Although Naru probably wouldn't let me…I wonder if Xavier has any._

She was pulled out of her thoughts when one of the students walked in.

"Wah! You scared me."

"Oh, sorry. I though that Norio would be in here. What are you doing?"

The girl pulled out a chair and sat down across from Mai, not even noticing Xavier as she looked at the video screens.

"I'm holding down the fort. Houshou is out patrolling."

"Eh, so how's the exorcism going?"

"We just got started." Mai sighed and rested her head on her hand again. "But it looks like it'll be a lot of trouble. There's just too many of them."

"I know right? I wonder what exactly is going on with this school. Curses, ghost, supernatural powers, all we need now is a UFO an-"

"W-Wait, supernatural powers?"

Mai was surprised and brought Naru in so the girl could began explaining. Apparently there was a student who could bend spoons and caused a bunch of trouble with the teachers. Xavier and Lin just stood back silently, absorbing all the information that was given about the student cursing the teachers, and how the stories and weird things began happening not to long after that whole incident.

"That's why everyone is saying that it's Kasai's curse. She hasn't even been coming to class lately. She just stays in the biology prep room."

Naru, Mai, and Xavier (who just tagged along) went to the room to confront Kasai. We were met by the biology teacher, who seemed to have a good relationship with Kasai.

"Why don't you just explain what happened, Kasai?"

"No! They'll just call me a liar too!"

"But he works in psychic research. He won't just reject what you have to say."

"Fine, what do you want to ask me?"

"I heard rumors that you may have been the one that has caused the outbreak of events here at the school. Stories about bending spoons and keys, as well." Naru said calmly.

"They're not stories, their the truth. But you probably don't believe that."

"Why not? Even I can bend a spoon."

That seemed to catch everyone's attention and he was given a spoon to prove a point. Xavier merely blinked in response to the spoon breaking and joined the rest when Kasai tried to prove herself. The moment she leaned over in her chair, Xavier chuckled.

"You shouldn't do that. Bending the spoon on the chair…If they catch you, no one will believe you."

"T-That's not true! I really can do it!"

Xavier just shrugged and raised her palms as Naru took over to 'comfort' her. That only aggravated the girl more and she began saying things like, "That's why they left" and "That's why the teachers hate Kei-sensei". Xavier sighed and headed to the door, waving over her shoulder, letting Naru and Mai know that she was leaving.

"Wait, Xavier…"

She paused at the door, waiting to hear what Naru had to say.

"Don't tell an-"

"I won't. Don't worry. Even I have my own secrets." Xavier said and walked back to the base, where everyone else was now at. Houshou and Hara had just begun arguing about there being spirits, while Xavier just took a seat and watched the show. Naru and Mai walked in, not minutes later, and John had made his way over to Xavier.

"No way!"

"It's the truth. There are no spirits here. I checked the whole school."

"There's got to be at least one in that seat, right? There were four accidents in a row from there!"

Houshou was now in Hara's face and John leaned over to Xavier whispering, _"Did you feel anything?"_ Xavier shook her head and John nodded before going to calm the two down. Then Ayako started arguing with Hara, so Xavier promptly tilted her head back to take a nap.

* * *

I awoke startled, as sweat dripped down the side of my head. I had another nightmare and I wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon. I noticed that everyone had left the room except for Mai, who happened to be taking a nap of her own. I sighed, pulling a hand through my short hair. _There are no spirits here. I know that much, but what could be causing these stories?_ I went back over the notes that had been written down, as I moved my chair to where I could look at the monitors as well. Nothing the students had given us seemed to pop out to me at all, but then I came across a single teacher who claimed to have a hand tapping at his house window. _Why is he the only one being followed home? None of the other phenomenon's went home with the students, so why is this teacher so special?_

I was interrupted in my thoughts when John came in and offered to give me a ride to my work place. I'm trying to pay for the small apartment I'm living in, so I work multiple small jobs with flexible hours. This next one happened to be a bartender at a nearby club. By the time I finished, it was early morning and I needed to get back to the school. It took me a while to walk there, but I wasn't that late. Everyone had gone to start the exorcisms and I was left in the base with Mai.

"I hope everyone hurries with the exorcisms, so we can leave."

I rolled my eyes and spotted Kasai in the door way. She took one look at me and walked out. She was up to something, so I stopped Mai from going after her and went out myself.

"Did you need something Kasai-san?"

"No, not really um…who are you again?"

"Xavier Freimont. A friend helping out."

"Are all these people friends of yours?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess you could say that. Houshou, John, Ayako…they're all cooperating to get this done."

"Hara Masako, what does she say about this?"

I glanced at her, thinking it a little odd that she would use Hara's full name.

"She's the same as me. There's nothing here. I don't believe in ghosts and spirits, so I think it's probably just coincidences or pranks. Hara just says there's no spirits, but who knows what goes on in her head."

Kasai turned around, shocked at what I said. "There's no spirits? Even with everything that's happening, not all of them can be pranks and coincidences, you know."

Mai came out of the room, while I just shrugged again and let her handle the spoon bender. After a little while, everyone returned to the room and began talking about Kasai being suspicious. Mai was a bit dense when it came to the subject of PK and ESP, so Naru explained each of the different types; PK-MT, PK-LT, and PK-ST. Mai still didn't seem to get what was going on, so everyone began talking about Kasai again. I just got up and filled my cup with coffee for the fourth time. I'm guessing that John saw my shaking hands.

"Um, Xavier? I think you've had enough coffee. You're hands are starting to shake. Are you okay?"

They all turned to me, noticing my jitters. I finished off my coffee and set the cup down.

"Just tired. My job kept me up all night and thanks to _this _bundle of nonsense, I haven't had any sleep."

Some of them tensed and were about to say something when one of the students came crashing in.

"Something terrible happened! Yoshino-sensei was in a car accident and he's been taken to the hospital!"

Naru, Mai, and Houshou left, while the rest of us stayed behind. John suggested I get some sleep and I did just that, until a nightmare hit me again. It was different than the normal ones though. They're normally about my past, but every once in a while, they become twisted and demented.

I was surrounded by fire, looking for a way out, but I couldn't find anywhere to go. The fire was an eerie blue glow and I had a feeling that someone was watching me. I turned around and a man stood there, wearing nothing but a white gown. He had a sword in his hand and he ran me through, leaning close to whisper in my ear.

"_You can't hide from the messenger of the harvest god, the white fox._"

"-vier! Xavier!"

I sat up, startled out of my mind. John was holding onto my shoulders, looking concerned as I sat there holding my stomach, trying to catch my breath. I got up and hurried out of the room, to the nearest restroom and promptly threw up in the toilet. I cleaned myself up and returned to the room, only to find everyone gone doing exorcisms except for Mai. I sat down, putting my head in my hands as Mai came over with a glass of water.

"You okay? John told me to keep an eye on you when you came back. Did something happen?"

"I-It's nothing."

We were both startled when Naru decided that now would be a good time to come in. Mai got up to make some tea and Naru sat across from me. It was silent for a minute before Naru asked me, "What happened?". He was calmly looking over his papers, but I knew the question was directed to me.

"Nothing. Just a nightmare."

"Don't lie. John told me about you. That was not just one of your nightmares. So, once again, what happened?"

I sighed, knowing that Naru wouldn't give in until he got his answer.

"I don't believe in spirits or ghosts. Never did and probably never will, but I get attacked every once in a while when I sleep. John has helped me before, but this one was…different."

Naru waited patiently as he took a sip of his tea.

"I was surrounded by glowing blue flames. I couldn't find a way out and I felt someone watching me. When I turned around, a man wearing white stabbed me with his sword and whispered to me, '_You can't hide from the messenger of the harvest god, the white fox.'_"

Mai's eyes widened and Naru set down his cup, suddenly interested.

"That's what the first girl said! They said she was possessed by a fox."

I nodded and leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling while Mai began voicing her opinion.

"Hey, Naru. About Kasai-"

"I don't know."

"That was fast! I…There's just something that's been bothering me."

I suddenly sat up in my chair, still staring at the same spot on the ceiling. The lights began flickering before they finally just turned off. Something began coming down from the ceiling and I stood up, watching as a woman glared at Naru and I. We both glared right back, until Houshou came in and dispelled her. Mai fell to the floor, but stood up suddenly.

"That woman she was after Naru and Xavier! She never looked at me once, and yesterday I had a dream where the school was full of foxfires. That thing was one of them! I don't know how I know, but I do!"

She began crying and I just sat down with a loud sigh. _Foxfires huh…_

* * *

The next day, I walked in and immediately dropped my head onto the table in front of Naru. He just raised his eyebrow, before Mai gave him his tea.

"Naru, why are you're eyes all red? You too, Xavier. You look like you haven't slept in days."

"I haven't. With this and work, it just keeps piling up. That, and that lady from before paid me a visit when I finally did get home."

"So that's where she went. I was staring at her half the night before she disappeared. So I managed to get some sleep."

I glared at Naru but he just drank his tea silently. Then, Lin came up behind me and began yelling.

"Why would you do that? You should've called me!"

"I was wondering what would happen. Besides, it would've been rude of me to wake you up."

"What would you have done if something happened?"

"If it got worse, I would've called. Never mind. Nothing happened, so you don't need to worry. Although, Xavier, I suggest you stay with John or someone if this matter is not solved today."

"Yeah, yeah. I just wish I could get some sleep."

The rest came in, bring up the fact that someone (not necessarily Kasai) could be making straw dolls to curse everyone with. John sat next to me, ruffling my already messy hair, trying to comfort me in a friendly way while everyone talked about what the curse could be. Suddenly, Naru spoke up.

"Lin!"

"Yes, that is one possibility."

"Why didn't I notice it before? This is a zuzhou."

"A zuzhou?"

"Ah, Mai. You and your limited knowledge." They all turned to me, surprised that I said anything. "A zuzhou is a hex, made by driving a nail into a hitogata; a straw like doll. The dolls illustrate the hatred of the person driving the nail in so it doesn't hurt the actual person. It actually calls upon the gods or spirits to deliver a death curse. It's one of the onmyouji arts…_enmi_, I think."

They were all shocked, except for John, who just smiled.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, Xavier actually has a major in parapsychology, or paranormal studies. She may not _believe _in ghosts, but she still wanted to learn about them."

"Well sorry. It seemed like a more interesting major than Japanese history, although…I did major in that too."

They sweat dropped, before they continued.

"You're correct. The evil spirits wouldn't have enough energy to kill over night, and only high-strung people would be really effected. Such as the fox case. It also explains why the whole school has been thrown into a panic."

"But who could've done it?"

"Kasai-san of course."

"But-"

"Who else?"

"Yoshino-sensei is also the person who hauled her up during the assembly. On what grounds do you have to say it wasn't her?"

I felt a bit bad for Mai. Sure, she had no reason other than a gut feeling, but I didn't think Kasai could've pulled it off.

"I don't know why, but…It's not Kasai! I'm sure of it."

"I agree with Mai." I said, getting up to stand behind her. "Kasai may have a motive, but none of the other points add up. Kasai doesn't have enough power to do this and I doubt that she even knows what a zuzhou is. So how could she do it?"

"Very well, I will believe you two. Lin and I will search for the culprit, while everyone else searches for the hitogata."

"Wait, us?"

"There are two ways to get rid of the zuzhou: Turn it back on the hexer, or burn it. They have to be buried somewhere near the target, so it would have to be somewhere around here."

They began arguing and I just got up and began searching the school. After not finding a hole lot, I headed towards the stairs to the second level. I spotted Masako already on her way up there and planned to just search elsewhere, until I heard her scream. I ran part way up the stairs, when she fell down and knocked me to the floor. I tried to catch her the best I could, but she still ended up more injured than me. I called an ambulance and Ayako ran to get the rest.

John got into the ambulance with Masako, telling me to stay and continue helping out. I waved him off and the rest of us headed back to base. Tensions were getting high, and Ayako and Mai began arguing again as Naru spoke up.

"Whoever the culprit is, this was a warning. They're telling us not to stick our noses into this case any further."

"Are you kidding me? Masako was pushed down the stairs! And you were attacked by that spirit!"

_Oh yeah, just forget about me._ I leaned back against the wall, but hissed in pain when my lower back made contact.

"Xavier, did you get hurt?"

"It's nothing, Mai. Masako was worse."

"Let me see!"

She stomped over and grabbed the bottom portion of the black sweater I was wearing, lifting it up. I heard several gasps when they saw the large bruise covering the whole lower part of my back, and just looked away from the glare Naru was giving me.

"Why didn't you tell us you got hurt?"

"It wasn't important. I can still help with the case and…I've dealt with worse."

"What do you me-"

"Fine. Me, Lin, and Mai will look for connections to the desk and the track team. Houshou, Ayako, and Xavier will continue searching for the hitogata. Got it?"

"R-Right."

* * *

The three of us went outside and began searching, but Ayako started complaining about getting her nails dirty. She paused, so I made a snide comment.

"What? You're speechless at the fact that no one around here cares?"

"No!…Isn't that the Kasai girl you guys were talking about?"

I looked towards the hallway she was gesturing to and saw some long hair go around the corner. _I wonder what she wanted, _I thought. I stood up from my position on the ground, but stumbled and fell to my knees.

"Oi! You okay?" Houshou asked.

"Yeah. My back just hurts. I'm going to head back and maybe pass by the infirmary for some pain killers. That fine with you guys?"

Houshou nodded, while Ayako just scoffed and went back to searching. I got my pain killers and went back to the base to get some water, interrupting Mai and Naru's conversation.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude."

"It's nothing…Why are you here? Aren't you suppose to be helping search for hitogata?"

"I was, but my back was bothering me so I went to get some pain killers. Oh, and we saw Kasai-san watching us outside. I thought you would want to know."

"I see. Anyway, what were you talking about before we were interrupted, Mai?"

"Well, onmyouji's could dispel the curses right? I told Kasai-san that you were an onmyouji."

"Where did you get that idea?"

They talked a bit more and I learned a few things. Who would've thought that Lin was an onmyouji?

"Very well, Mai. I will trust you one more time. You go help search for the hitgata. Xavier…You can just stay here. I have to go research something."

"Aw, don't leave me here! Let me come with you!"

"No."

"But I might know who the culprit is~"

Mai and Naru turned their head to me quickly as I looked at the ceiling, innocently.

"Fine. Come."

* * *

We were returning to the base when Naru spotted Mai over a gate.

"Mai! What are you doing?"

"Yeah, that's a restricted area for a reason!"

"There's a girl trapped down here! Her backpack is over-"

We followed her gaze, but when I saw no backpack, I ran to the door just as Mai was being pulled into the sewer. Naru and I rushed over and grabbed her, trying to get her to calm down.

"Mai, put you foot on the ladder. Can you do that?"

"Yeah…ah!"

I heard the ladder break under her, but Naru and I didn't have a good grip on anything. We all fell down and I could only try and grab onto the ladder, which was a horrible idea. I grabbed one of the top rungs, but I also had a grip on Mai. The added weight pulled my body downward and I let go when pain flooded my shoulder. I would've yelled, but I hit the ground hard and was knocked unconscious. I woke up with a pounding headache thanks to someone yelling.

"Hey! Anyone there?"

"Shut up…"

"Ah! Xavier! Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay when my head stops pounding. How about you and Naru?"

She looked over at Naru as she helped me sit up. She touched the wrong shoulder though, and I immediately hissed in pain. She let go, shocked.

"I-I'm sorry! Your hurt!"

"Don't worry about it. I probably dislocated my shoulder on the way down. I tried to grab the ladder, but doing that while carrying two people was a bad idea."

She helped me move to lean against the sewer wall next to Naru, and I tried my hardest to not move and cause myself more pain.

"Mai, what were you doing over here?"

"I-I heard a child crying and when I went looking for her, I saw her down here."

She turned around quickly, probably thinking about how stupid she was for not noticing it before.

"That means they're after you too, Mai."

She was mentally freaking out. I could tell by the way she was making faces. They were quite funny, so I couldn't help but chuckle a bit; stopping when I moved a bit too much.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

"Are you okay now?" Naru said.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"First you get depressed, then you get mad. Then your mood improves and you start thinking positive. It all shows on your face."

"That's why I was laughing. You make some silly faces."

She walked over and held my nose closed.

"Neh! Wat ere ou oin'?" (Hey! What are you doing?)

"It's punishment for laughing at me! Besides, it's nice to see you express yourself more. All you ever do is stand in the back looking bored."

She let go with a smile on her face, and I just huffed. I only tuned back in when Naru brought up something interesting.

"Mai, do you want to see my pet?"

He pulled out a 500 yen coin and Mai made fun of him, so it hid. It was interesting to see the two of them interact this way. Even more interesting to see Mai's reaction when the coin talked back.

"You wouldn't be afraid of Mai, would you?"

"Mm-hm"

"You shouldn't be. She isn't as scary as she looks."

"He's right. She's even _scarier _than she looks!" I said, laughing. "Hey what about me? Are you scared of me?"

"Yeah, you're scary looking."

"Aw~ No fun, and here I am trying to be nice."

Naru put the coin away despite Mai's protests and we began talking about when we were going to be saved. Just then, we heard steps in the water. Naru sat up and I tried to, but the pain was too much and Mai was keeping me down.

"What's wrong?"

"Whatever happens, stay close and keep calm."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

The woman from before popped out of the wall, pulling a sickle out of her mouth and coming closer to Naru. I could practically feel Mai freaking out, but the woman backed off and disappeared all of a sudden. My tensed muscles relaxed as a light shined down through the sewer opening.

"Naru, are you there?"

"That was quick. We need a ladder and a flashlight. We won't be able to get Xavier out without help."

* * *

I was brought back to the base, not wanting to go to the hospital until I heard what Naru had to say. We had found a pile of hitogata in the sewer, containing Mai, Hara, Yoshino-sensei, Naru, and my own hitogata. Houshou and Ayako were happy that the culprit didn't have hitogata's made for them as well. All in all, there wasn't a whole lot that could be said.

"All we need to do now, if flush these down the river or burn them. That should take care of the enmi."

"But will that make the culprit give up?"

"We don't even know who it is."

"It's not Kasai-san, okay?"

"Ugh, shut up…you're getting too loud."

I glanced at Naru, as I grit my teeth. Ever since we'd gotten out of the sewer, I noticed that he wasn't looking to good. Just then, he let his head drop.

"Naru? Hey, Naru!"

Houshou pat his shoulder to check on him, but he just fell to the ground.

Naru and I were sent to the hospital, seeing how I should've gone earlier, leaving the hitogata's to the rest. I had dislocated my shoulder severely, tearing several muscles, and being forced to wear a sling. At the moment, I was resting in Naru's room, a few bandages here and there, and seven stitches on the left side of my forehead. He had called everyone to come to his hospital room, so he can discuss the case and Lin, Houshou, and Ayako were the first to arrive.

"How's your condition?"

"Simple anemia and Xavier was in a worse position."

"Yeah right. Dislocated shoulder, torn muscles, seven stitches, and a slight concussion. The only thing keeping me down right now, is this sling and my pain meds."

"Haha, true."

"What about the hitogata?"

"We burned them and dumped the ashes in the river. All we need now, is the culprit."

"Xavier and I have an idea."

"Oh, it's Kasai right?"

"There's no one else."

I sighed, before closing my eyes and leaning my head back. I only opened them when Mai burst through the door with Kasai, Ubusuna-sensei, and Taka (one of the students). I glanced at the four of them with half-lidded eyes, before listening to Naru speak.

"Takahashi-san and Kasai-san. Did you hear Mai tell you about me being an onmyouji?"

"What's that?"

"I did. Why?" Snapped Kasai.

"Did you tell that to anyone?"

"It doesn't matter. Why don't you just say it? 'You're the culprit'"

_This chick._

"Look. If you want to blame yourself, fine. Just answer the bloody question."

They were all kind of shocked at my outburst, but Ubusuna-sensei answered the question.

"Would it be wrong if I heard it? I didn't tell anyone else though."

"Then, let me ask this as well; where did you come from?"

"Fukushima. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Ugh, I'll be back in a sec. I'm going to chase down the nurse that has my pain meds before my head explodes from all the idiots in this room."

I got up and grabbed the nearest nurse who got my pain meds, before returning to the room just in time to hear Naru tell about the names.

"The only people who know my name are the principal and you. Also, as far as I know, the only person who knows Mai's full name is you."

"Okay, then what is my motive? Why would I put a curse on you?"

"That's easy, Ubusuna-sensei." All eyes turned to me as I returned to my seat and swallowed my pill with some water. "You heard about Naru being an onmyouji which is a threat to the curses, so you tried to get rid of him."

"Then why would I curse Mai?"

"She knew, no matter what happened, that Kasai wasn't the culprit. Her instincts were a bit too sharp for your liking."

Just then, Kasai broke down, saying that she was the culprit in a desperate attempt to protect the only person who stood up for her. Naru calmed her down a bit and joined me in proving that Ubusuna-sensei was the culprit.

"You're the one who taught Kasai-san the spoon trick."

He continued and Lin walked over handing him an old magazine with her as a child being called a fraud for pulling off the trick on television…AND she completely lost it. She began yelling about how she could bend the spoons and they just so happened to photograph at one point when she couldn't. Then, she smiled while telling us that this whole thing was just a joke.

"Ten years ago, there was an accident where a man drove wildly before crashing. During the investigation, he told police that there was a hand the was on his window. He was the reporter who published your story in the magazine."

"Are you saying that was my doing as well?"

"I'm not saying that, but if it's true, you can't get away with saying that this was all just a prank."

"Seriously, you're lucky no one has died. Because trust me, I'd put you're ass in prison so fast-"

"Xavier."

I stopped as the insane woman stood up and began walking towards me. I stiffened, but relaxed slightly when she went to the vase of the table behind me. She began arranging the flowers, but I knew something was up and kept my eye on her. I saw her reaching into the flowers and stood up, before Naru called Lin. I grabbed the woman's wrist and held it behind her back, holding her against the wall as Lin pulled out a hitogata with Naru's name on it.

"Xavier, release her…Sensei, you need some rest. Zuzhou uses both mental and physical strength. You're quite worn out."

"I guess you're right."

_Crazy people._

* * *

A few days after the case was solved, I was sitting in the Shibuya's Psychic Research office, still recovering from the whole escapade. I had to quit all of my jobs thanks to what happened with my shoulder, causing me to lose my apartment, and John didn't have room for me to stay at his place. Naru invited me over to his office today to test Mai and I for psychic abilities. Turns out, Mai got everything wrong and I guessed on all of them and got them all right. Either way, we were both confirmed latent psychics.

"Hey Xavier. When did you find out who the real culprit was? You knew before I even began researching Ubusuna-sensei."

"Hm? Oh, that…in a way, it's the same as this test. I guess and got it right." I smiled, hoping to piss Naru off, and it worked. "But, I also didn't narrow my suspects down as much as you did. As soon as I knew it was zuzhou, I expanded my search to include any people Kasai, the principal, Takahasi, and Ubusuna-sensei were on friendly terms with. Then I cancelled out the obvious two who had no connection at all and the only person Kasai spoke to was Ubusuna-sensei. Any other questions?"

"Yeah, how did you take down Ubusuna-sensei with only one arm? That was crazy!"

"Oh, you'd be surprised what I've done in my spare time. John why don't you explain, I'm going…to take…a nap."

"Woah, she's out already?"

"Yeah…She hasn't gotten much sleep since she lost her apartment and the jobs she had."

"What? Why?"

"Well, let me start with what I know. You see, Xavier is actually an orphan. Her parents left her a long time ago and she was raised in an orphanage. She was never adopted or even considered because she acted out so much. She ran away from the orphanage and began living on her own at a young age, somehow making it through life okay.

I didn't meet her until she practically tackled me, saving me from stepping on a poisonous snake outside my church. I was surprised and wanted to do all I could to thank her, but she never asked for anything. I didn't meet her again for quite a few years. Apparently, she told me she had been found by a lawyer who explained to her that her parents had died leaving her quite an amount of money."

"Wait, so she's rich? Then why doesn't she just buy a place?"

"Well, she used that money to go to college before researching multiple martial arts. She knows pretty much everything, from simple self-defense to fencing and bare knuckle boxing. If there was one, I'm sure she'd have a major in martial arts and fighting. When she finally got back to Australia, she donated what was left to her orphanage.

She told me that she didn't want to use her parent's money and that she only wished to go through life with her own power. She's extremely independent, and I was extremely surprised when she asked to come with me here. She became a very good friend of mine after an incident, which she may or may not tell you about herself. It's not my place to say it and I already felt that I've said too much."

"Oh, well at least she has more intelligence than a wild animal."

"Who are you calling a wild animal? I suppose bending spoons isn't unusual either?"

"Mai, thanks for waking me up."

"Sorry."

"Naru! You did that? Now you listen to me-" Lin half shouted.

"I know."

"No you don't!"

"No, I know. I won't do it again."

Now everyone wanted to see him bend a spoon. Lin argued against it, but Naru really had no choice. He sighed before picking up his spoon and bending it. Everyone was surprised, except Lin, me, and Houshou who called him out on it. He explained the trick and the surprise vanished. Mai looked even more confused so I tapped her shoulder and sat between her and Naru, with Lin standing behind us. I made sure they were the only ones watching and I grabbed a spoon; placing it in between my index finger and thumb side ways, so both ends were out in the open.

"Naru, it's no fun if you don't do it properly."

I looked at the spoon and both, the handle and the spoon bent to form a perfect circle. Lin and Naru's eyes widened and Mai was about to yell when I covered her mouth.

"Be careful of what you do and say, because not everything is a trick."


	2. Chapter 2: Author's Note

Okay, before I update this for those who have reviewed (thank you soooooo much by the way) I have a few questions.

1) who should my OC get with?

I have a few ideas and was thinking about going for Yasuhara or Lin since they're like the only people in the series that don't have a partner (Houshou-Ayako, Naru-Mai, John-Masako) and they have neat personalities that I think would go along with Xavier. But if you think another character would be better then I'm willing to figure something out, just be sure to tell me why you think that character should be with Xavier.

2) should I write less and update frequently or should I do like I have been, and write the whole episode out and update less often?

If you chose less but more often, then I will post a section by tonight or tomorrow and if not, it may be a week or so since I have finals coming up.

**Send me your answers through review or PM and I will try my best to do what is asked of me ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry about the long wait ^^ I have taken your comments to heart and added a little something at the end of this chapter. I hope you like it (it was a whopping 16 pages and I rewrote it a good three times) and please review and tell me what you think about Xavier and her friend Andras. P.S. I do not own Ghost Hunt nor "Wasted" by Stabbing Westward**

* * *

"_My life's been wasted  
Everything is gone  
My life's been wasted  
And I am all alone  
My life's been wasted  
There is no one else  
My life's been wasted  
It's time I face myself"_

I groaned as I rolled over to pick up the phone I'd left on the floor. I did manage to get another apartment due to a well paid construction job I'd gotten after my arm healed, and was enjoying the two hours of sleep I'd gotten until my phone interrupted.

"M'ello…"

"Xavier, I'm sorry to wake you up, but Shibuya-san has a job and would like it if you could meet up with him."

"What 'bout you, John?"

"I'm out of town and I'll be there tomorrow for sure, but could you please help him? It's at Ryokuryou High School."

"Yeah, yeah. Tell him I'll be there soon…Just five more minutes."

"Xavier!"

I jerked the phone away from my ear at his loud shout and mumbled a 'Fine' before dressing and heading towards the door. I had heard about the school before from a couple newspaper articles. Apparently they've been having all sorts of incidents and I already had a bad feeling about the place even though I hadn't even left my apartment yet.

It was freezing outside and, coming from Australia, I layered up. Cold wasn't my thing so I made sure to wear long sleeves under a thick, black, faux fur-lined jacket. I then tied up my pair of combat boots over my black jeans and grabbed a pack that I filled with clothes and a blanket. Something just told me that this case was going to last longer than a day, so I should be prepared to stay over…at a school…at night…_creepy._

Anyway, by the time I left and walked to the school I arrived just in time to see a teacher walk out of the meeting room more than irritated.

"Fine then! If anything happens I'll blame the principal!"

He was grumbling under his breath about "stupid brats" and I came up behind him.

"It's not nice to talk about people behind their backs, you know. It makes you appear childish."

He turned around, face red with rage, but paled at the sight of me before hurrying in the other direction. _Do I really look that bad?_ I thought as I slid the door open only to come face to face with Mai's finger. I brought my hand up and pushed it to the side.

"Nice to see you too, Mai."

"Xavier! What are you doing here? I thought you'd be coming with John tomorrow."

"I was in town."

I shrugged my shoulders and leaned against the wall as someone walked up to me. I didn't recognize him and, judging by the school uniform, he was probably a student here. I raised an eyebrow as he held out his hand and introduced himself, smiling the whole time.

"Hi, I'm Yasuhara Osamu."

I shook his hand. "Xavier Freimont…Why do I get the feeling you're hiding something behind that smile of yours?"

He looked at me shocked for a second, but quickly went back to that smile and slung his arm across my shoulder like an old pal.

"I like you! We could really get along!"

Suddenly, we were interrupted by yelling coming from down the hall. We all ran out the door, Bou-san checking on the girls sitting on the floor while I headed towards the classroom door.

"Th-The dog…It's t-that dog…"

"_I'm not a dog!"_

The voice echoed through my head and I hesitated to open the classroom door. I could sense something dangerous on the other side, but I opened the door with Bou-san and Naru behind me. There, in the middle of the classroom was a large pitch black dog. It looked over us, it's gaze resting on me before attacking.

"Naru! Xavier! Get back into the hall!"

Bou-san and Naru went on either side of the door, and I stood in the hall as the dog jumped through the doorway and tackled me to the ground. It sank it's teeth into my arm and I quickly swung a punch at it's head, but it disappeared before I could make contact with it.

"I-It disappeared…"

A scream echoed from down the hall as students gathered and I got up from off the floor, clutching my wound. Mai and Yasuhara were looking after the girl and Naru seemed deep in thought, but Bou-san came over to me.

"Are you stupid? I told you to get in the hall!"

"I did. You can't blame me for something that wasn't my fault to begin with."

I turned to walk away, but Bou-san grabbed my upper arm and pulled me down the hall, yelling over his shoulder.

"Naru! I'm taking this idiot to the infirmary."

"Of course. Yasuhara, could you gather the students…"

I couldn't hear him anymore since Bou-san had already dragged me down the hall. After being bandaged and lectured by him, much to the amusement of Mai and Yasuhara, we all returned to record the students' paranormal incidents. They had quite a few too; everything from lockers that never open to someone appearing in a bed in the nurse's office. Then they brought up a student who committed suicide.

"Did you know him personally?"

"No. I'd never heard of him until after his death, but his death note became really well known at one point."

"A death note?"

"Yes. It said, 'I'm not a dog.'."

I suddenly paled and remembered that I'd heard those words when I was attacked by the dog earlier.

"Xavier, is there something you want to tell us?"

Mai and Houshou looked over at me, surprised that I was looking sick. Then, Mai brushed her hand across my forehead to check for fever, scaring me for a second as I came back to reality.

"Are you okay, Xavier?"

I opened my mouth to answer 'I'm fine' but Naru's glare told me the truth would be better, so I sighed.

"No." The others were a bit surprised by this, but pressed me to go on. "'I'm not a dog.' I heard that earlier, just before I opened the door to the classroom and got attacked by that dog. Then, when that girl mentioned Sakauchi…I-I had this distinct feeling that something horrible is going to happen soon."

I rubbed at my bandaged arm as a knock sounded at the door and Yasuhara walked in with a few others. They had been victims of a class food poisoning. The class apparently smelled horrible causing over half of the students to get sick. Then, the small fires had been brought up as well. People thought it was caused by pranks, but the fires kept happening every twelve days.

"Can I see the classroom?"

"Of course."

After a short walk down the hall, we came upon classroom 3-1. The moment Yasuhara opened the door; we were assaulted by a rancid smell. Mai and Houshou ran towards the window, but Naru and I were as calm as ever. I don't know what Naru's excuse was, but working at a construction site with a bunch of sweaty guys has really braced my nose for harsh smells. As I was passing a desk, my hand brushed one of the desks and an image of a paper with a figure and a bunch of writing spelling demon circled it. I pulled my hand away and turned towards the girls who had followed Yasuhara in.

"You mean Orikiri-sama? Let's see, I think I still have one."

The girl pulled out an identical piece of paper and Bou-san snatched it away before throwing it away and yelling, "This is Kokkuri-san!"

"What? But that isn't right! Doesn't Kokkuri-san summon fox spirits?"

I sighed before speaking, "Orikiri-sama, Gogen-sama, Hanako-san, Cupid-san, Angel-san. They are all different names for Kokkuri-san. No matter what the name is, you're still doing the same thing."

"She's right. Anyone can summon a spirit, but only skilled professionals can send them back…but I thought you didn't believe in ghosts, Xavier?"

"I don't, Bou-san. Whether you can see them, hear them, or whatever, as long as you don't believe in them they don't exist."

I smiled like Yasuhara, who was nodding satisfied with my answer, while everyone else sweat dropped. Then we all got sent on a reconnaissance mission. At least that's what I wished it was. Nope we were stuck asking all the students about Kokkuri-san, but I decided to make the best of it and pulled out my phone, playing Mission Impossible as I snuck down the hall in my black clothes. Luckily, no one was in the hallways, but then I heard snickering. I turned around and came face to face with Yasuhara, Mai, and Bou-san who were all trying hard not to laugh and failing.

"Ahaha! Who would've thought the always stoic Xavier would be sneaking around a school like a secret agent?"

Houshou and Mai were now on the floor dying from laughter and I blushed lightly from embarrassment as Yasuhara clapped my back.

"It's okay, Xavier. Even I go around acting like a spy sometimes."

He was smiling widely, but I narrowed my eyes.

"No you don't."

"Yep! You're right!"

It was my turn to sweat drop as we returned to the meeting room. Naru was standing by the window and the moment Bou-san told him about what I was doing, he looked in my direction and I swear I saw a slight smirk cross his face. _Oh great. He's probably going to use that as blackmail._ I yawned then, realizing just how tired I was and headed to a nearby chair to relax a bit. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep my eyes open and fell asleep.

* * *

It was pitch black and I groaned, knowing that this was going to be another one of those dreams. Then, small orbs of light started appearing out of nowhere and I found myself standing outside the school forced to watch as the orbs flew around and absorbed each other. Then, I was on the roof with a boy standing in front of me laughing.

"_Isn't this funny? They deserved this! Ahaha!"_

He turned towards me and transformed into a huge black dog, growling and snarling at me before charging. I tried to run but the moment I began to back up, it jumped at me and went through my chest, knocking all the air out of my lungs as a burning sensation traveled all across my arm.

"Xavier!"

I sat up and immediately began gulping large gasps of air as I leaned against John, who was keeping me from falling off the chair. Everyone turned to me with various expressions of shock and concern, as I tried to catch my breath and John tried to calm me down.

"Xavier, are you okay?"

I clenched my teeth and gripped my arm in an attempt to stop the burning, but only succeeded in reopening the bite wound; blood soaking the bandages, which alerted John.

"Xavier! What happened?"

"Before you arrived, a dog entity attacked her."

John turned back towards me with wide eyes, before asking Mai to get more bandages and pulling out a small bottle. I groaned, but removed the bandages and braced myself for the holy water. The others looked a bit confused at what was going on, but John and I would explain it later. A few prayers were said and John poured the water over the wound, causing me to wince as the burning feeling increased before steadily numbing. Mai returned and re-bandaged the wound and Naru finally asked; more like demanded.

"Explain."

"About the burning arm thing…John would be able to explain it better."

I waved over to John, who nervously chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Um…Xavier has always…_attracted_ spirits."

"Pft, attracted? It's more like I'm freakin' ghost magnet."

The others gave me a weird look, but I ignored them and waved John on.

"She has quite the aura actually. This attracts the ghosts and she has been attacked on multiple accounts…In any case, she is very spiritually sensitive and any negative contact with ghosts and spirits causes extreme pain if not soaked in holy water."

"You should've told us earlier. Xavier, I suggest you stay close by someone in case something more happens. Now we can all go get some rest. "

"I'll just sleep in here on the couch. I'm sure Lin's more than capable of taking care of any problems."

I glanced over at said person and he looked surprised that I acknowledged him and his abilities, but he agreed to keep an eye on me as he worked. Soon, everyone left except him, Naru, and I which gave me a chance to go get the blanket I had in my bag and change my clothes in another room. I returned wearing grey sweat pants and a baggy white t-shirt and earned a glance from Naru.

"Where did you get that blanket?"

"I brought it from home. I've read the newspaper articles about this school and thought that the case would last more than a day. So, I brought what I needed; toothbrush, toothpaste, a blanket, and a few changes of clothes."

I had been ticking off the items on my fingers and when I finished, I heard a short laugh. Naru was holding his fist over a large grin and Lin was just smiling at his computer screen.

"What?"

"Do you always come this prepared?"

"Yeah. Is there a problem with being prepared?"

He shook his head while Lin just chuckled and I stretched before falling into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

I woke up abruptly in the middle of the night, surprising Lin, and grabbed my phone to check the time.

12:11 A.M.

"Crap, I'm late."

Getting up, I stretched and grabbed my clothes, stopping just inside the door frame.

"I have work. I'll be back tomorrow."

I waved over my shoulder and headed toward the construction site a twenty minute walk away. I worked 'til mid-afternoon and returned to the meeting room where Yasuhara and Mai were having coffee, covered in dirt and still wearing my work clothes; a white tank top with bright, baggy orange pants, and a yellow hard hat.

"Yo…"

"Wow, that's a great look for you, Xavier!"

I rolled my eyes at Yasuhara's comment as Mai handed me a cup of coffee.

"So…you fell asleep again didn't you Mai."

She flinched and blushed in embarrassment while Yasuhara chuckled.

"She sure did, and she was mumbling in her sleep too. We just finished talking about Orikiri-sama."

"Y-Yasuhara…You're a very calm person."

"Hahaha. People tell me that I am more mature than I look for my age. They call me 'old man' and they say I have the kind smile of an old man but it's hard to tell what I'm cooking up behind that nice smile."

"So I was right."

"Yep. You're the first to see past my façade."

He smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, but stopped when he glanced at the clock.

"It's today, isn't it? It's the twelfth day."

_What the heck is he talking about? Twelfth day…the fire in the locker room?_

I stood up and began searching the room, grabbing the fire extinguisher in the corner and heading towards the door, but something made me stop.

"It may not happen in the locker room this time…"

"What are you saying, Mai?"

I went back towards her as she stated that it may happen in the studio, but silently questioned why she thought that. Just as I was about to ask, Bou and John returned.

"Oh, I see you two are all alone in here with your boyfriend, huh? It's good to be young."

I sighed and slumped against the wall, as Yasuhara spoke in a semi-annoyed tone.

"Now, Bou-san, we were just about to have a good time. Why'd you interrupt?"

Poor John ran into the wall while Bou-san paled significantly. I couldn't help but fall to the ground clutching my stomach in laughter. Bou walked over and pulled him away quickly, but I couldn't help but listen in to his conversation.

"Okay, listen. Let's have a little talk. I understand how you may feel, but first you need to think about what's going on around you. You see, this type of thing needs the appropriate mood and…"

"Oh, I get it. I'll keep that in mind next time."

Bou froze and glanced at Yasuhara with narrowed eyes.

"By any chance, do you like Mai?"

"Yes, I do."

I twitched and felt a bit of hurt, but I wouldn't show it. Instead, I decided to wait for the perfect time to tease them.

"But I also like Shibuya-san. He's beautiful, but…I like you even more, Bou-san."

_Hm, now would work._

Getting up from the floor, I came over, wrapped my arms around Yasuhara's waist and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Are you cheating on me, Yasu-chan? I thought we had something special."

I pouted and Yasuhara quickly caught on, turning around and kneeling on the ground in front of me with my hand in his.

"I would never do such a thing! Not without your approval, of course~"

"H-Hey…You two are teasing me, aren't you?"

We both faced him and said, "Of course." Yasuhara with a smile and me with a dead serious expression. Poor Bou-san couldn't handle that and collapsed in a chair with his head on a desk.

"Don't play with an old man's mind…"

"You're the one who started it, Bou-san."

"Xavier's right, but I didn't expect you to join me in my fun. What made you choose otherwise, Xavier?"

I shrugged and mumbled out, "It seemed like fun." as I tried to control the light blush that was trying to dust my cheeks. The only thing I didn't notice, was the looks Mai and John were giving me and Yasuhara.

"By the way Mai, do you feel anything?"

"She mentioned that the fire in the locker room may actually happen in the radio studio, earlier."

Bou practically attacked Mai with a pillow trying to get her to sleep and Yasuhara quickly dissolved the situation. Unfortunately, I had to leave for work again later that night and missed the fire that _did_ happen in the studio. I was lucky and had gotten off work a bit early, catching Mai who was wandering in the hall after I'd changed.

"Hey Mai. I'm sorry about not helping all the time."

"Oh, it's no problem! You've helped a lot already!"

"Thanks. I just feel as though I'm not giving it my best, you know?"

"Yeah…"

She trailed off and I knew she was felt the same. She too knew what it was like to feel useless.

"Hey! How's your so called 'exorcism' going?"

_Hm? Sir Jerks-A-Lot aka. Matsuyama-sensei._

"I heard that another fire broke out this morning. So you guys can't even perform and exorcism or whatever, huh? I knew from the start there weren't any ghosts. It's all just a big fabrication. You're scamming us for money, aren't you?"

I growled and the man flinched in recognition and shock. I stepped forward as he stepped back a step.

"Look buddy, we're trying to work right now, so go toss your complaints at the guy who hired us."

I grabbed Mai's arm and turned around just as the man tossed one last comment at us.

"Only people who cling to stupid superstitions believe in ghosts…Isn't that right? Answer me!…You two are just like the idiots at my school. The ones who'll cling to the occult to the end of their miserable lives! Just like Sakauchi."

_This jerk! He's practically saying he's happy the kid committed suicide._

"_I'm not a dog!"_

I quickly turned my head just seconds before a scream echoed from down the hall. Mai and I ran and met up with the others just outside of a class room. My arm felt like someone was pushing a scalding iron into it and I immediately knew what was on the other side even before they opened the door.

The dog from before was in the room, taller than before, nearly reaching the ceiling with a desk in it's mouth. It threw the desk, hitting one of the boys in the back of the room before facing Mai and I. Bou-san grabbed Mai and Naru shouted my name as I stared down the beast.

"I really didn't want to use this, but I don't have much of a choice now, do I?"

I pulled out a small switch blade and cut my palm, swiftly gaining the hound's attention.

"Xavier! What are you doing?"

I ignored Naru and stepped closer to the dog, mumbling what sounded like nonsense under my breath. I was right in front of the dog now and placed my bleeding palm on it's head.

"Kai."

The dog slowly disappeared into nothing and I stumbled back before being caught by Naru.

"Matsuyama-sensei. Could you please call an ambulance? Some students have been hurt."

He glanced back to me and roughly grabbed my hand, turning it over to inspect the damage. The cut wasn't bad at all, but the pain from what I did had my whole arm shaking. We both turned around when we noticed Mai and Masako fall to the ground as well, but I gripped my arm as I suddenly saw something.

One of the orbs from my dream earlier was absorbing everything around it. One of them just so happened to be Sakauchi. I heard Naru and Bou-san's yelling and I stuttered out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Xavier, can you stand?"

I shook my head. I'd done this technique a couple of times before and I know just how taxing it can be on my body, so I allowed Naru to help me up and support me back to the meeting room; much to Mai and Masako's displeasure. Of course, the moment we went in the room, John freaked out.

"Xavier!"

"John, calm down."

Naru set me down on the couch and Mai brought over the bandages for my hand, causing John to get even more upset.

"What were you doing Xavier? What happened?"

"John, it's nothing. Okay? Just calm down and try not to get too upset…I used the seal."

"What?"

Everyone in the room flinched at John's yell, surprised that the normally calm quiet man was acting in such a way, but they were even more surprised at my own yelling.

"I had to! That _thing_ had grown bigger; up to the ceiling! It was hurting the students! It was going to hurt Mai, John! What else was I suppose to do, dammit?"

I had stood up to John's height by pure adrenaline, but the pain returned ten fold. Collapsing, John managed to get me back onto the couch and pulled his cross necklace off his neck, delicately wrapping it around my arm while trying to ignore my gasp of pain at the contact. He said a quick prayer and laid me down, leaning his forehead on my own.

"I'm sorry. I should've been there. I could've helped, but…"

"Oh shut up. It's not your fault and you know that. Besides, this much pain is bearable if it means keeping others from being hurt."

I gave a small smile, but it came out a painful grimace and I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

Everyone was concerned the moment they noticed Xavier pass out, but they were forced to relax when Naru began discussing the case and what exactly happened in the classroom. When they got over to the part where Xavier 'sealed' the dog, questions were being thrown at John back and forth.

"What happened?"

"What did she think she was going to do?"

"What _did _she do?"

"Explain what she did."

"U-Um, I would, but i-it's not my story to tell. The most I can say is that it's a sealing spell. I don't know where she learned it or how, but it's unlike anything I've ever heard or seen and she seems adamant about not telling me or anyone else about it…"

He looked over at Xavier, sadness lacing his features as he let everyone absorb what little he knew. Then Lin, of all people, spoke up.

"You said 'sealing'. Do you know where she seals the entity?"

John shook his head as he glanced at his hands in his lap.

"I'm not sure. All I know is she has to use her hand and her blood. Other then that, I do not know if she sends the spirit somewhere or if she seals it into something, but whatever hand she uses always causes her pain afterwards. Not to mention how much energy it takes from her. She always collapses and is unable to stand; sleeping for hours and acts differently for a while afterwards too."

"Lin, see if you can find anything about Xavier's sealing technique."

Lin nodded and began typing away at his computer just as Yasuhara entered the room and everyone spoke about the case again. It was later that night that they were forced to grow even more concerned, when Monk discovered Mai unconscious in the biology room. As soon as she came to, the group was able to relax a bit.

"I feel horrible."

"Then just lie down for a while, silly."

Ayako slapped a wet cloth over her forehead and that was when she noticed everyone else scattered around the nurse's office. Masako and Monk were just standing around, while John and Yasuhara were sitting on the edge of Xavier's bed, who was still out cold. After a quick explanation about what happened with the children ghosts and the bottle of formalin in the biology room, everyone went back to business and Ayako was left to watch over Mai and Xavier. To most, she wouldn't seem like the motherly type, but she didn't hesitate when Mai asked,

"Could you stay?"

"I'll be right here. Now, go to sleep. Goodnight."

* * *

I was standing in front of the school staring at a large, ominous, fetus shaped form that floated in the center, absorbing spirits left and right. I felt a spirit behind me and turned to spot Naru and Mai, only something was different. Naru was _smiling_. Mai seemed shocked to see me, but this fake Naru just smiled and put a finger to his lips.

_Whatever._

"Is that…a phantom light?"

"That's right. It's still sleeping, but it must have devoured enough spirits to grow."

"It's going to hatch soon…I can _feel _it. We're not going to be able to stop it, are we?"

I glanced over my shoulder as he nodded.

"Not only that, but there are four of them. There's even one in the nurse's office."

"I noticed. The mutt's getting restless even being in the same room as that thing. We need to leave, Mai."

"Right."

She seemed determined even more so when she spotted John and Yasuhara heading towards one of the phantom lights. She yelled out about warning them and ran off as the fake Naru warned her about watching herself. When she was gone, I walked up to the man and socked him across the cheek, surprising the crap out of him.

"That's for fooling Mai. I don't know who you are, bu-"

"Thank you."

I froze before cocking an eyebrow.

"Say what now?"

"For keeping an eye on her…"

He smiled before disappearing so I sighed and took one final glance at John and Yasuhara. _You guys better be okay._

I awoke to find Mai sitting up in bed and mumbling a Buddhist chant under her breath and started swinging her hand around. She got threw maybe four hand signs when the spirit retaliated. I somehow managed to make it over to her in time, but sustained heavy damage when she collided with me, throwing us both into the wall behind us.

"Damn, Mai. All you did was piss it off."

"X-Xavier? Can y-you stand? We need to get out of here."

"_Devour…Must devour…"_

I gripped my arm as the dog fought against me, and the cross burned. I shook my head to answer Mai's question and she tried to get the door open instead. Without warning, the room shook and I was thrown to the side while Mai was thrown downwards. As squeaking and clawing sounds echoed across the room, now a good four or five feet _below _the door, Mai began freaking out. I somehow managed to get closer to her and leaned heavily against the wall next to her, biting into my bottom lip as the burning sensation traveled further up my arm, nearing my shoulder.

"Naru!"

I tilted my head towards the door and spotted Naru trying to help Mai up towards the door. Almost immediately, there was a huge cracking sound and the roof fell down onto Mai, Naru, and I. With the heavy weight on my back and the voices in my head, I was going to have a hard time getting out of this situation. So, I was extremely glad when everyone helped unbury us and Yasuhara half carried me back to the conference room where we were patched up for the most part.

"Really now. How is it that you always manage to get hurt? The same goes for Naru and Xavier! You three are unbelievable."

While she was fussing over Mai, I had Yasuhara sitting next to me with a first aid kit, cleaning up the large cut I had on my cheek.

"Now let me redo your bandages."

My grip on my arm tightened and I tried to tell him it was fine, but his smile turned into an angered one. I flinched and withered a bit into my chair, allowing him to get a hold of my arm and tear the bandages off. What he saw, made his eyes widen.

"Xavier, what the heck happened? It wasn't this bad before!"

He was dead serious and managed to catch everyone's attention as they gathered to look at the wound. It was the same bite mark as before with the same cut on my palm, but there were now burn marks wrapped around my arm from the cross necklace John had put there. Masako had the worst reaction to it though, because she could see even more of the damage. I gave her a look that begged her not to mention anything about the shadow of darkness that covered my entire right arm, and she seemed to get the message; merely backing away a bit so she wouldn't have to look at it anymore.

I caught a few glances from Lin, Naru, and John, but Yasuhara just looked slightly concerned and angered as he redid the bandages. Eventually, we all settled down for the night and forgot what we had seen or pushed it to the very back of our minds. _Hopefully, we might be able to do something to save this school._

* * *

I woke up to Mai's yelling about the fact that we were leaving the next morning and something she said made it click for me.

"If we leave it'll still devour the remaining spirits and then it'll grow even stronger."

"And in the end, all that will remain would be the most powerful. Mai! You're a freakin' genius!"

"Uh, thanks?"

She looked confused beyond belief, but Naru and Lin seemed to understand. So I explained to her and anyone else who may not have understood.

"It's a spirit kodoku; a type of curse that originated in China. Most people use an insect, though they can use other creatures as well, and they fill a jar with insects and bury it. Eventually, they dig it up and all the insects would be devoured except for one; the strongest insect.

"That insect would bring great prosperity to that person's house, but they have to give it a human sacrifice or else they will be devoured themselves. If the person couldn't take care of the bug anymore, they would have to throw all the riches they gained into the street, This is the insect called kakinsan or the 'dowry insect' I believe."

Mai seemed to get the connection now and brought up the fact that tossing their riches into the street nowadays would be a stupid idea. Then Naru explained how it was used against enemies. They all seemed pretty worried about what they were going to do about the most powerful spirit, but I realized we had another problem.

"The master…it's the students, isn't it Naru?"

He nodded and Mai flipped out about how the spirit would devour everyone without their knowledge.

"Including Yasuhara! Right Naru?"

_But there's nothing we can do…what could we possibly do to stop the spirit? Wait, I could seal it, couldn't I? That would save Yasuhara and all the other students, but the consequences would be more severe than the dog…would I be willing to risk that much?_

"Naru, I could-"

"No, Xavier! I won't let you do that!"

I turned and spotted John getting upset. He knew what I was about to offer but before he could continue, Naru spoke.

"What would be the consequences? There is obviously a backlash to this sealing of yours."

"Hm, the biggest one would be pain…" _and the spreading of the darkness to a good half of my body, if not more._ "and I probably wouldn't be able to move for a few days. Oh, and you may have to restrain me as well."

Everyone looked at me in shock and anger, before they began yelling about not letting me do this. Even Yasuhara was completely against this and Naru sighed, getting their attention.

"Lin?"

"It is a pretty obscure curse and even we haven't encountered one before, but if this _is _a kodoku, it should be no different than a regular curse. It will be easy to defeat it, though not without unintended side effects. Although, I agree with the others as far as Xavier's sealing. If there is another way to do this, I suggest we do it. There is no need for Xavier to risk this much."

_But as far as I know, the only ways to end this curse is to transfer it to someone else or agreeing to take care of it._ Turns out I was right, but when Naru left to go speak with the principal, Lin seemed to have discovered that the Kokkuri-san is actually a murder curse. Naru returned and was told about the curse, thus discovering that the person who was to die from this would be Sir Jerks-A-Lot.

"Hideharu Matsuyama."

"Aren't you ready to leave yet?" _Speak of the devil and he shall appear. _"There's nothing left for you to do. Do me a favor and pack up your things and go."

I sighed, but chuckled when the news was given to Matsuyama-sensei. I was full on laughing on the floor like a mad man when he began yelling about how it was Sakauchi, causing all eyes to turn to me; the only person laughing in this serious situation.

"Don't you see? 'I'm not a dog.' Everyone here is treated like animals and technically, anyone could have written this about you! You are the soul representation of what is wrong with this school, and Sakauchi isn't happy about what you said about him."

I smirked and pointed my hand towards the floor where a black dog was slowly appearing, snarling. Not only did he take a few steps back, but so did everyone in the room.

"_Hehehe, I knew you would use my powers again…but for something so meaningless? Humans _are _amusing."_

I grit my teeth and pulled the dog back in, leaving the room and heading to the nearest tree. Leaning against the trunk, I growled at the voice.

_Shut up, Andras. If I could, I'd send you straight back to hell where you belong._

The voice chuckled again, but I blocked it out as I focused on the sound of the wind and trees. They always had a calming effect on me and seemed to always get Andras to shut up as well. I stood back up when it started getting dark and headed back inside just for him to speak up again.

"_Your friend is not a very smart human to be facing that _thing_ alone."_

"Dammit."

I began running down the halls, trying to find Mai and stopped at the printing room where I could feel the mutt start acting up. The door was open, but the moment I walked in, it slammed shut and Mai just finished yelling a mantra.

"Begone!"

She did nothing more than splash up the blood that was on the ground, so I quickly ran over and pulled her back towards the door as she continued yet another mantra.

"Mai! It's not going to work! All you're doing is making them angry!"

"B-But wha-No! Don't come any closer!"

The white blobs that had been coming up from the floor were maybe inches from out ankles and I quickly shoved Mai behind me, ready to absorb another spirit if I had to.

"_I wouldn't. You have not yet recovered completely from the mutt. If you do it now, nothing good will come out of it."_

Normally I wouldn't listen to him and I'd do it anyway, but when Andras is serious I know better than to disobey. Suddenly, we were both grabbed from behind and pulled out of the room by Houshou. He swiftly sealed up the room and grabbed us both and ran outside where we knew for sure it was safe.

"You idiot! Your counter-spells are no match of them! They're way out of your league! And you Xavier, what the hell were _you_ thinking? You should have pulled her out of there, not joined her! You both could have died there! Do you understand that?"

"I'm the idiot? I went to pull her out of there! The only problem was, the moment I stepped in the room the door locked! I may not believe in ghosts, but even I know when I'm out of my league!"

I turned to leave again, but John grabbed a hold of my arm.

"Don't leave, Xavier! H-He was just worried about you, that's all. We were _all_ worried about you two."

The look on his face had my heart cracking in two.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry for worrying ya."

I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment and John ruffled my hair, while Ayako and Masako comforted Mai. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

"It's awfully quiet."

"I'm not sensing any human presence. I don't think anyone else is here."

I ignored Ayako, Mai, and Masako's blabber and crouched down to the gym windows. The room was crowded with the students, but the voice chuckled.

"_That is one way to do things."_

I shook my head and followed Mai and Monk to the conference room where Lin and Naru were already set up to reverse the curse. I could feel the tension in the air rise and suddenly, Mai ran towards Lin and began shouting. I _personally _knew what could happen if you disrupt someone who was dealing with curses or summoning, and desperately tried to pull her away from him. Naru finally got fed up and grabbed her wrist harshly and tugged her out of the room, where she continued to yell at Naru.

"You murderers…" I felt a pang of guilt travel up my spine and Andras laughed manically in my head. "If you can solve this case, what good will come of it? The death and mourning. What good will it do? It's not too late to stop! It's not too late!"

I rubbed my temples, knowing what Naru was doing, but silently wondering why he wasn't telling Mai. It would save him so much trouble if he'd just tell her.

"_Ah, but where's the fun in that?"_

_God you're annoying. I use your powers once and you have to bug me for a week? Don't you have anything better to do; like damning souls or something?_

"_You know as well as I do that I cannot leave your body with my own power."_

"Yeah, yeah. I know." I groaned. It was then I realized I had said that out loud and was lucky enough that the only person around to hear was Naru…Or maybe I was unlucky. I nervously chuckled.

"You wouldn't happen to forget that, would you?"

He didn't say anything for a moment before opening the door to walk in.

"No. You will explain that as well as your _sealing _technique, seeing how Lin has been unable to find anything."

I nodded with my head bowed and slid down the wall across from the room, to wait for them to finish and to think over my impeding doom.

_I could just lie, but what…no, _how_ could I lie? They saw me seal the stupid dog AND bring it back out again. Then Naru heard me talking to myself, thanks a lot Andras._

"_You're most certainly welcome. Anything to help out my lovely contractor."_

_I told you I never contracted you! It was my stupid f-_

"Xavier. We're finished."

I jolted a bit and stood, following Naru who merely glanced at me once before walking down the hallway. We met up with Ayako and Masako and even made a brief encounter with Mai before she ran down the stairs. I chuckled and clapped Naru on the shoulder.

"You shouldn't tease her so much, Naru. One day she's likely to take your head off, you know."

I shoved my hands in my baggy jeans and waved over my shoulder as I made my way to the gym, _supposedly _full of people. While I took that leisurely walk, poor Bou-san was left panting in the doorway; leaving Mai standing there shocked.

"What happened? What is it?"

"What does it look like? It's a room full of hitogatas."

Mai bent down and picked up one of them, still confused about why it looked like a room full of people earlier.

"It takes a lot of energy to make so many hitogatas and to have them appear as physical people. You should thank whoever put forth so much effort in order to save the students, Mai."

She turned to me, slightly shocked before turning back and glancing at Naru, guilt showing plainly in her features.

"As for Ayako, Masako, Mai, and Xavier…Please gather up the nametags on the undamaged hitogatas and make a list of names. Then find out where those individuals are and confirm that they are safe."

I nodded with the rest of them and went about doing what was asked. Eventually, we were finished and I sat in a chair, combat boots up on the desk, fiddling with a broken hitogata with the name Osamu Yasuhara on the front. I smiled gently, but dropped it the moment everyone entered the room, not realizing that I must have been sitting there for a while since Mai had apparently left the room at some point. They all seated themselves around the room and Naru spoke to me over the lip of his coffee cup.

"Now would be as good a time as any, Xavier."

"Yeah. I know. Just give me a minute to figure out how to explain this."

"Explain what?"

I rolled my eyes at the ever oblivious Mai and began spinning a tale of how I came to acquire the ability to seal spirits within my own body.

"My curse, Mai."

"Curse?"

"Just shut up and let me tell you, okay? Normally I wouldn't tell anyone this, but I guess you guys have managed to squeeze your way far enough into my life that I don't really have any other choice. You see, I am able to seal spirits within my body and potentially use them at will. Although, I tend to avoid that is at all possible."

"_Says the woman who used the mutt to intimidate a spineless human."_

"Oh shut up will you? I'm trying to tell them something important, you annoying hell spawn."

I got quite a few looks and I heard Bou-san mumble something like 'crazy' under his breath. I groaned and slid my hand down my face.

"I heard that, Monk. I'm not crazy. Just let me explain…When I was younger, I had this group of friends who were into the occult. I was smart enough to not get involved, but they dragged me with them when they went to summon a demon one day. I personally wanted nothing to do with it, but something must have gone wrong and I jumped into the summoning circle on accident when they freaked out. I don't remember the details, or how it happened exactly, but the demon was summoned _within _me. After that, I blacked out and…"

I zoned out for a second, remembering the carnage that was left in the room when I had woken up that night. Deep down, I knew Andras was the one who did it, but I couldn't help but blame myself. Shaking my head, I tuned back in to the group.

"Let's just say it was _bad_. Anyway, Andras can't leave my body for some reason and his powers enable me to seal spirits within my body using my blood and some Latin crap Andras taught me."

Lin spoke up for the second time.

"So Andras has not only enabled you to seal entities within yourself, but has also caused you to easily attract spirits?"

"Yup. Spirits sense him in a weaker form or something and they think they can 'devour' him, and since he's in me…I became a ghost magnet."

"And you still don't believe in ghosts?"

"Nope. Demons are one thing, but ghosts are a completely different fruit."

"_Don't compare me to a fruit. It's degrading."_

"I swear, Andras. All you do is whine."

Mai perked up at that.

"Y-You can speak with it?"

"Yeah. He gets annoying though, no matter how handy his powers can be. I'd let you talk to him, but he has a thing about public appearances."

I shrugged my hand nonchalantly and Naru seemed satisfied with my answers, but John looked really depressed. I got up and went over to him, nudging his shoulder.

"Hey, you okay, John?"

I was startled when he suddenly tackled me in a hug, his head buried in my stomach and his arms wrapped around me. I blushed lightly and glanced back at the group who all shrugged their shoulders since they didn't know what was going on. He suddenly squeezed me tighter and lifted his head, staring at me with tear filled eyes.

"W-Why didn't you tell me, Xavier? A-Am I not-"

Surprising even myself, I bent down and hugged him tightly.

"It wasn't because of you John. I-I felt like you…wouldn't want to be around me. Y-You're a priest and I'm…well, I'm housing a demon. I-I'm sure you can understand what I was think-"

I too was cut off by John, who stood up and kissed my cheeks, both our faces quickly becoming stained with red. He let go of my shoulders and took a step back, stuttering.

"I-I understand, b-but I would think that! I-I…You're my best friend and…I r-really like you."

I guess my mind was still trying to reboot after the kiss and I just smiled widely and said,

"I really like you too, John…and apparently I like the rest of you quite a bit too."

I turned to the rest and didn't notice the change in John's face, nor Bou-san patting him on the back gently with a look of understanding. Eventually, we all left the school and went back to our daily lives, promising to see Yasuhara again sometime soon as we rested up for the next case to come our way. Little did we know, just how disastrous this next case was going to be.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ohhhh! Look! It didn't take me that long to write this one, since it's my favorite part of Ghost Hunt XD Please review and tell me what you think!**

* * *

"This is breathtaking…is there really a mansion like this in Japan?"

I glanced at the building, glad that I only had to hear Andras for a week or I'd certainly be hearing him now chuckling about _something._

"It may be breathtaking, but it's still a haunted mansion."

"No shit Sherlock."

Ayako glared at me, but I ignored her and instead yawned loudly, causing quite a number of our group to sweat drop.

"I see you haven't changed, Xavier."

"Hm?"

I lazily drew my eyes over to Yasuhara who began laughing over Ayako and Monk's argument. I yawned again and John came by to ruffle my hair.

"You didn't get enough sleep again, did you…"

"No. I had to deal with a jealous ex-boyfriend."

Everyone stopped walking and turned back around, Bou-san cleaning out his ears as Yasuhara's eyes narrowed, never losing his smile.

"Who was it this time?"

"An old acquaintance of mine, Isuzu. The guy's been stalking her for a while now and she asked me to pose as her boyfriend to scare him off. Dude went to jail after attacking me with a knife. Managed to clip my ear too, the bugger."

I turned my head to the side and showed the angry red slash that traveled across my earlobe. John frowned.

"You really need to stop taking those sorts of jobs, Xavier."

"Hey, I didn't know he was going to jump me on my way home. Besides, you know I can't help but help out an old friend."

I shrugged my shoulder nonchalantly as we headed into the mansion and I felt something immediately bother me. There was something dark here.

"Incidentally, your president is…"

"Oh, that would be me. I am the president, Kazuya Shibuya."

Shockingly, it wasn't Naru who spoke, but Yasuhara. _What is Naru thinking? The only reason he would have Yasuhara do that is if he doesn't want others to know who he is…but why?_ Everyone bowed at they were introduced, but I just nodded my head. Sure, it was rude, but I could care less at the moment.

"My name is Koujo Lin."

"Are you from China?"

"Originally Hong Kong."

"What?"

"You guys didn't know that? He's obviously not Japanese or Korean."

They all stared at me in shock but went on into their own…_weird _conversation. That is, until we were being directed to another room. Right by the stairs though, I paused.

"_Help…I don't want to die…"_

The air had grown thicker and the scent of something coppery filled the air for a second, as I got chills. Seemed I wasn't the only one, since Monk came back and double checked on Mai. As I passed her, I place a hand on her shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"I felt it too."

* * *

We were all seated in some large meeting room and offered drinks, which I gladly accepted for the caffeine intake. Our client, then began introducing everyone in the room which became a pain as far as remembering names goes. I pretty much gave up remembering them all after the second one (what can I say? I'm lazy.), but quickly paid attention to a name I never expected to hear in a place like this.

"Dr. Oliver Davis of the British Society for Psychic Research."

He was a typical blonde haired man, what one would expect from someone British, but I felt something was up.

_Even if he really was Davis, why come to Japan for some case as small as this? Either it isn't a small case at all, or our client paid a ton of money for some fake that claims he's from SPR…Wait, isn't that what our group is called? Only ours stands for Shibuya Psychic Research. Coincidence?_

I was yanked out of my thoughts as our client spoke again.

"During the course of your investigations on our behalf, you may stay here. You may retire or return to your rooms at any time, but we cannot allow you to leave the premises. We ask that you please respect these restrictions."

_Why so many restrictions? I guess I'm going to lose my job _again_…Aw, who cares. I just want to sleep as soon as possible._

I turned towards the door, ignoring the cocky snot who had hired 'Davis' and walked out to go begin setting up the equipment. Not a few minutes later, Mai and John came over to help me with the rest of the group.

"That Minami is amazing. He knows so many famous people."

"He sure does."

I rolled my eyes in secret at their naivety, as I plugged in the appropriate wires while John and Mai continued to speak about Davis and the origins of English. They went onto the topic of Monk and I chuckled from where I was, watching the dazed man in question setting up the equipment. It was around that time, when the client came back in and Naru began asking questions about the case at hand, me indiscreetly listening from my place under the monitors.

"Please, could you confirm the details of this case?…We know it was your wife's grandfather who originally erected this building, but apparently, not your wife's father or anyone else from their family ever lived here, or so we're told."

As he spoke, I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach and I swore I saw a pair of dead looking feet not a few inches from my head, but when I looked back they were gone and only the small scent of blood remained. I shook off the feeling as we were told about the missing boy, firefighter, and renovation workers. The message left behind in the will that was mentioned had me thinking about those feet I saw, but I decided not to say anything yet.

Eventually, we learned about the house and the grandfather, the fact that there are no blueprints available, as well as a bit of useful information about the ghosts themselves. I didn't know if the others caught on, but because our client never saw any of this stuff personally, it seems as though the ghost only has specific people it's targeting. I spotted Naru zoning off and silently wondered if he was thinking something similar to what I was.

"Something's not right. A haunted mansion abandoned for years, a convoluted building with no blueprints…We need to stay there overnight."

Monk was a bit against it, but we were soon placed into pairs (me with John for obvious reasons) and Monk found something to tease Naru on, which didn't go well for him nor Ayako. It was then, that Mai noticed Masako looking pale.

"Something's…I've felt an anxiety ever since we entered this house. There's the scent of blood in here."

"What is it?"

"Well, for a moment, at the entrance I thought I smelled blood."

"What?"

I cringed slightly from Ayako's yell and slunk back towards the shadows for a bit to stay out of sight. Of course, Naru noticed and called me out on it.

"Xavier, do you have something to tell us as well?"

Everyone focused their attention on me and I held Naru's gaze as I spoke.

"I also smelled the blood at the entrance, but it came with a voice that said, 'Help…I don't want to die'. The most I could get from it, was that it was female. Then, when I was plugging in wires, I thought I saw a pair of rotting feet by my head before they disappeared; leaving the same bloody scent."

The group got quiet as they thought this information over, but soon enough, we had to go check out the mansion.

* * *

"Wow…"

"Wow…"

"Wow…"

"Do you guys ever stop saying that?"

I growled as I pulled up my hood and stuffed my hands in the pocket of my short-sleeved, black and white stripped, bunny eared hoodie. My mood was quickly deteriorating and the sheer insanity of this house was starting to get to me. Doors, windows, and stairs were put wherever the hell someone felt like putting them and, as Monk just found out, who ever put them there, liked to trip people.

"You okay?"

"W-What's this beam doing here?"

"Cheer up, Monk. You're so tense on the job."

I laughed behind my fist as Monk and Mai called Yasuhara weird, before walking up to them.

"Weird? Ha, that's probably what I like about him the most."

I winked at their shocked faces and walked ahead to catch up with Yasuhara as we went into yet another room.

"This is the strangest room yet…What a strange house. This room had random corridors that lead nowhere. It feels like an RPG."

I opened another door with a smile.

"I like it."

The others gave me odd looks, except Yasuhara who just smiled with me and ruffled my hood.

"I can see why. It matches you entirely; what with you always leading us around in circles and dead ends when we try to figure you out."

I nodded, still smiling even when Monk freaked out about a window leading to another room. A small beeping caught my attention and I quickly located the source; a small thermostat Mai had brought in.

"What happened?"

"The entire room…it just sank about four degrees."

_That could mean one of two things. Either the opening of that window allowed the temperature to drop, or…Monk just let something in this room with us. I'm going towards the second. There's no way the opening of one room into another would drop the temperature that quickly. I just hope whatever it is leaves us alone._

"It's just like the Winchester House."

I mumbled, although it seems that the others heard me.

"What's that, Xavier?"

"It's this convoluted 'mystery house'. Sarah Winchester actually built the Winchester brand of rifles which killed off many people in her time. She was apparently told by a medium that she was haunted by spirits who died by Winchester rifles and that she was to be their next victim after her husband and daughter died. The only way she could avoid this was to build a home in the West for the spirits and as long as she never stopped building that home, she would live. So she made the house with dead ends and openings leading nowhere to confuse the spirits into never finding her."

I heard a slight scoff from Monk.

"The Winchester House is just a myth!"

"You'd be surprised, Monk. I've actually been there and the spirits that haunted her confirmed the story. Of course, that's what I get for leaving the tour group and wandering."

I shrugged, ignoring Monk and Mai's shocked faces when Yasuhara pointed out a room in the middle of a room. While Yasuhara and Monk joked about the room being like something out of a video game, Minami walked in with a few of his assistants. I ignored their blabber and they soon left, us leaving not soon after to return to home base. I began nodding off as everyone got together and talked about Davis though; my head falling forward every once in a while before I'd snap it back up. It was then, I notice Naru carrying cameras out the door. I decided to help him out, hoping it would keep me awake for a while longer.

Grabbing a camera, I sneakily followed him out. I came up behind him and spoke, getting a small flinch in response.

"So, what do _you_ think about this 'Davis' guy?"

"What I think is of little concern in this matter, Xavier. The case is more important."

I felt a little offended, but that's just Naru's personality. So, I promptly got over it.

"Okay, I can respect that…but I just thought you should know, if you didn't already know, that he's a fake."

"Oh? And what makes you think that?"

I rose an eyebrow at that and gave him a look.

"Since when do you care what I think about matters that are of _little concern_?"

He chuckled and we went off into a room to set up the camera.

"You seem more intelligent than you let on, so I am merely interested in what it is you have to say."

"Fine…This case, even if it is for some political guy, is a small one and I can't see _the_ Oliver Davis coming from England just for this. Plus, the guy didn't even say anything! He just acted like a self confident jerk that probably had no idea what we were saying. I may not _know_ Davis, but even from his books I can tell that he would learn the language before he moves somewhere. Besides, I can't see him with Minami as his assistant. The guy acts like he knows the world."

I tossed up my (now empty) hands and we headed back to the meeting room in slightly higher spirits. Seems they had finally noticed our disappearance and Naru went dark on Mai.

"It's all right, Taniyama. The work's too heavy for a woman of your stature."

I had a feeling he was thinking about just saying 'for a woman' but he must have remembered that I too am of that _breed_. Monk and Mai recovered fairly quickly and began picking up the equipment when Mai said something surprising.

"Mai, you should get I touch with your parents to let them know you'll be a while."

"No worries. I'll be fine."

_I'm fine._

"But won't your parents be worried?"

_No. They don't care._

"No. I'm an orphan."

_They left me._

Everyone got quiet as I thought back to my own past as an orphan.

"What's wrong?"

"You're an…orphan?"

"That's right."

"What about other relatives, like grandparents?"

"I don't have any living relatives. My father died when I was really young and my mom died back when I was in junior high. Some of my teachers helped me out by letting me stay at their houses though."

_She had someone looking out for her…Heh, she _is_ a well liked person after all. We do have our differences._

"Who supports you now?"

"I do! It's great! Thanks to my school's generosity to the needy, my school fees were waived. My living expenses are covered by scholarships and this part-time job. Especially since the pay's so good!"

I assumed that Mai was just trying to keep us from worrying and as Monk pulled her into an embrace, I looked away, feeling something ache in my chest. He shoved her away in a joking manner and everyone gathered around, laughing like old friends while I slunk to the door. In a way, I felt jealous of Mai. We were both orphaned and yet she gets all the hugs and teasing while I stand in the back to watch. There was this nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me that I asked for it with the way I act, and it wasn't Andras.

_This is what you wanted, isn't it, Xavier? You wanted to stay away from people because of Andras and now, you have that. What more could you want? The demon freak was meant to be alone. Nothing's changed._

I glanced back at the laughing group and whispered under my breath before heading to the room we're supposed to sleep in.

"Nothing's changed."

* * *

I was standing in the shower, semi cold water drenching my head as I washed. I sighed and then paused suddenly, not noticing the water get slightly warmer.

_When did I get into the shower?_

The water dripped down my face, only it wasn't water, it was blood. I pulled my hand through my hair slowly, coating my hand in blood as my eyes widened. A flashback of my friend's room covered in blood passed through my head, and I stumbled back a step to realize that the blood had accumulated in the tub up to mid calf. I slipped in the sticky liquid and landed in the tub, blood covering my body and splashing on the curtains. My hand brushed something cold and I came face to face with a pure white corpse, half submerged in the blood. It's lifeless eyes staring up at me in shock and suddenly, I was awake in our room; sitting up in the bed that was prepared for me.

Glancing around the room, soaked in a cold sweat, I noticed that everyone had already gone. I clutched my chest in a frantic attempt to slow my rapidly beating heart and slowly got dressed for the day. I then went to home base, only for Naru to send me out to find Yasuhara, Mai, John, and Monk who had gone to get the measurements for the blueprints. I did find them, but I also found the monk that had been hired as well.

"Children can be mediums as well as adults."

"When did you become a medium? You still look like a school kid."

"Me? I turned 243 this year. My family has lived long lives for many generations, but we try not to brag about it. Just ask Xavier! She's my cousin; turned 249 recently."

Mentally, I groaned as I did the math in my head for my birth-year, nodding to the monk who was turning red with rage.

"Do you take me for an idiot! When were you really born? Tell me!"

"Yasuhara was born in the year houreki 8 while I was born in the year houreki 2. It was a leap year if I believe."

Yasuhara smiled that old man grin as the monk face planted.

"You young people today are so fearless. If I asked an elderly person those questions back in my day, I would have been slapped senseless."

"Yasuhara's right. I remember the Tenmei famine. It was devastating, right?"

"Really, Xavier. People today have no idea what famine is. They're so arrogant even though they only know about it from family stories…But then, my parents were born during the Kenmu restoration and were always giving me an earful about the Onin war."

"True, but that must have been nothing compared to what my grandfather on my mother's side went through during the Genpei war. Then, my great grandmother on my father's side had the Jinshin war which was a very big deal."

"Oh, I heard my great-great grandmother on my mother's side burned to death during the downfall of Yamataikoku! Huh? Imura, where are you going? Imuraaaaaaa?~"

The monk was practically scrambling to get away from us, leaving use in a stunned silence for a few moments before Mai and Monk began laughing and patting us on the back.

"You two, you're awesome!"

"We took it too far didn't we…What do you think, Xavier?"

Glancing down the hall I answered, "Probably." They all sweat dropped at my simple, bored sounding answer as Yasuhara prayed to the Gods to forgive him for making fun of the elderly. After that, we reported to Naru everything that we discovered as well as the possibilities of secret hidden room and were actually invited to a séance later that night. Of course, I really shouldn't go but I went anyway, hoping that maybe I could find some clues to what was in this house. After arguing a bit about some night vision camera, the lights were turned off and we leaned against the wall as they began.

"Please take a deep breath and call upon the spirits living in this mansion. To those living in this mansion, please possess this woman's hand and reveal your souls. I implore you to reveal yourself."

I began to feel suffocated and leaned more weight against the wall, focusing on the candle that had been placed on the table. It flickered after the next few sentences and I felt something enter the room, just as the possessed woman began writing at an unnaturally quick pace. My head began pounding as several voices yelled all at once.

"_Help!"_

"_I don't want to die!"_

"_It hurts!"_

Rapping sounds began at that moment and things clattered and banged; the candle eventually falling over and snuffing itself out, throwing us in pitch black. We were ordered not to move and this deep scent of blood flooded my senses. I became nauseous and saw flashes of scenes; a maze, a butcher knife, white coats, and blood. So much blood.

Suddenly, the lights were turned on, but I didn't move. During the mess, I somehow grabbed a hold of a piece of paper, my knuckles turning white due to the force I was exerting on the offensive article. I still felt suffocated and breathing was becoming a problem as well as the nauseous feeling that was making it's way towards my throat. It was then that Yasuhara noticed me.

"Hey, you okay Xavier? You look a little green around the gills…Huh? What's that?"

He reached out and pried the paper from my hand before quickly calling Naru over.

"What do you make of this? It's not the same as the other papers and it's the only one written in red."

"Hm…Where did you find this?"

"Xavier had it."

He pointed at me only to find me gone, already running towards a restroom. Lucky, I made it and I began to feel slightly better, but still decided to head towards bed; wishing that I won't have a repeat of last night's terror. Of course, just before I could fall asleep, Masako, Ayako, and Mai came in.

"The scent of blood?"

"Yes. Is everyone else all right? I can sense that smell infused throughout my body. I felt like vomiting in the séance room and afterward."

_So she smelled it too…But it seems like I was the only one who had the scene flashes and voices._

"Mai?"

"Yes?"

"How are you feeling?"

"W-Why are you asking me a question like that?"

"I'm just showing you proper respect."

"Respe-for me?"

"Since it was only you and Xavier who saw the same visions I did on the last case."

"Visions? Yes, but not this time. I haven't seen anything."

"I have…"

They both turned to me, surprised that I was listening to their conversation.

"I-I'm sorry! Did we wake you, Xavier?"

I shook my head while brushing back my hair and sitting up.

"No. I didn't have a chance to actually get to sleep…and even if I did, it wouldn't have lasted very long."

Mai laughed nervously and Masako quickly went back to the topic at hand.

"You said you've seen visions? Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"You have to understand where I'm coming from, Masako. I don't deal with people. If they wanted to know, they should've asked. Otherwise, I really don't care whether they know or not. Besides, it's more fun to watch them try and figure things out on their own. I may not always be around for them to get hints from."

Mai looked depressed at what I had said, but she didn't say anything as Ayako decided to grace us with her presence.

"What? Are you three getting along?"

"We're just telling stories. I'm not usually like this."

That comment must have hit Mai hard and they quickly started arguing while I just grabbed a cross necklace John had given me, and fell back onto the bed to try and actually get some sleep before I'm plagued by nightmares. Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky.

* * *

A skinny, blood covered masculine figure wandered the halls, dripping blood and staggering over to a room. Two more white coated figures entered and dragged someone out, leading them away despite their struggling. I followed, not knowing what else to do seeing how my body appeared to move on it's own. I was forced to watch as we walked though a door in the middle of nowhere, into a hedge looking maze, and through another door to what appeared to be a surgical bathroom of some sort. The woman was strapped to the table, and she turned to me. It was the assistant who had been possessed during the séance. She cried , mouthing words to me that I couldn't understand. I felt myself fading, but I quickly grabbed my cross necklace and put it around her neck.

"I'll save you, I promise."

I woke up and began swiftly putting on a pair of clothes, rushing out the door while muttering curses under my breath; most likely scaring the crap out of my roommates.

"Xavier! Where are you going?"

I ran down the hall and into home base only to discover the assistant's boss asking Yasuhara if anyone's seen Suzuki (her assistant's name apparently). Mai, Ayako, and Masako walked in behind me as I went over to the wall and took a good punch.

"What's wrong? Xavier! Stop that!"

Mai grabbed a hold of my arm before I could hit it again and I shakily dropped it. Monk decided to answer Mai's question, although he watched me confused.

"Well, Suzuki's vanished…but I don't know what Xavier's problem is. She just got in here."

"I was too late, dammit."

"Too late for what? Xavier, what are you talking about."

I glared at Mai, who flinched and stepped back in response, and then I stormed out of the room to see if I could possibly find where Suzuki was taken. After a while, I spotted John and Monk down the hall also searching. John saw me and tugged on Monk's sleeve, alerting him to my presence just as I tried to dash down the hall.

"Now hold on there! What's up with you, Xavier?"

"Monk's right. I've never seen you act like this. Is there something wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it, John."

"What are you talking about? I just want to know if everything's oka-"

I could take it anymore, really. All my bottled up emotions that I kept hidden every day of my life were fighting to break through my cracked mask and for once, I couldn't hold them back. Years of loneliness, sadness, and fear just poured down my face in the form of tears. John reached out to brush a tear off my face, trailing his hand down my cheek.

"Nothing's okay, John…but…I don't want to talk about it."

"But you shouldn't keep things bottled up like this! I can help!"

I scoffed, wiping the remaining tears from my face with a crooked smile.

"Can you? You're not attacked on a constant basis. You don't see the things I see. You don't have to live with the constant reminder that there's blood on your hands and nobody wants you! What could you possibly do, John?"

I was full on yelling at that point, tears pricking my eyes before falling once again. Both Monk and John were shocked at everything I had just said, but I just groaned and turned to leave again. This time, no one stopped me.

* * *

The only time I returned to be with the others, was during diner at which I sat quietly, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Mai actually left early, giving me a quick glance before walking out the door. After that though, I practically disappeared at the dinner table. When I shadowed the group back to home base, I stuck close to Lin and reviewed any information that I'd missed. He didn't seem to mind anyway, just passed over the files and ignored me. It was only when I spotted something at the window did I give any sign of paying attention, but it was only Madoka bringing us any outside information.

"Okay, I'll go step by step. Starting with Suzuki and any contact she had this morning. I check all the bus and taxi companies in the area, but no one I spoke with remembers a rider matching her description. We can't rule out hitchhiking, but this _is_ assuming she was even able to leave the mansion."

_She never left. She was in her room and was taken by those two burly men. I saw it, but should I tell them that?_

"_I don't see why not."_

_Why the hell did you decide to talk to me, Andras? You're always whining about how much of a pain it is for you to talk to me when I haven't used your powers._

"_Now, now. Can't a demon offer some cunning advice? It's obvious you've been having some trouble with your human emotions and I just merely wanted to help."_

_And what can _you _possibly do to help? No one can help me. I was meant to be alone the moment you showed up and killed my friends._

"_Che, friends? I would hardly call those disgusting beings of yours, friends. You know as well as I do that they were only using you to get higher in their pathetic lives. Besides, don't you have friends now? These humans are at least willing to try and help you with your problems. You're just too…stubborn, I suppose, and take what they offer you for granted."_

_Oh yeah? And what would hell spawn like you know about friends?_

"_Every demon was human once, child, and I am no exception."_

I felt Andras's presence leave and I sighed to myself, just barely noticing that everyone had already gone to bed except for Lin. Handing back the files, I leaned back in my chair and surprisingly, he spoke to me.

"Is everything alright, Xavier?"

"I don't know…Can I ask you something, Lin?"

He turned around in his chair, his complete undivided attention on me.

"Depending on what it is, I may or may not be willing to answer."

"Right…It's just…Is there someone who _needs _you?"

"I suppose. I am constantly supporting Naru and I would assume that he needs me, but I feel this isn't what you want to ask."

I broke eye contact with the Chinese man and stared at the ceiling as I fidgeted. Finally, I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be able to get out of this now.

"Is there someone who needs _me_?"

He didn't say anything for a moment while I continued to shuffle nervously and just when I was about to dismiss what I'd said, he responded.

"I'm sure every one of us needs you, whether we realize it or not. There is no being on this planet that is not needed, Xavier."

I couldn't help but chuckle in spite of the serious conversation. Lin merely raised an eyebrow.

"Hehe, sorry. You just sounded all mystical and stuff, but that line sounded like something you'd find on the bottom of a gum wrapper or something…I guess you're right though. I just can't see how I could be needed…"

"Then don't see…_feel_." He smiled, surprisingly, and turned back to the computer after ruffling my hair like John does. "You and I are more alike than you think. Now sleep."

I nodded, still a bit dazed but decided that sleep may be a good idea. I got up from the chair to head back to my room, stopping as I remembered that we weren't suppose to wander alone and headed to a corner of the room, where I leaned against the wall and drifted to sleep, snuggled in my hoodie.

I didn't stay asleep for long before I had another nightmare about the shadowed figure and his lackeys dragging away a couple of bloody bodies, and was awake most of the night, catching very little sleep. I don't know if Lin noticed or not, but if he did he didn't show it. That, and it seems I was coming down with something after everything that's been going on and possibly from sleeping on the floor in a corner that night. Currently, I was in the meeting room wearing a few extra layers with my hood up while we waited for Naru's opinion on a portrait that John had found in a secret room by the stairs. Almost immediately, he began ruffling through some papers on the table and pulled out an old looking bill and holding it up to the light. It was then I had an idea.

"Hey, Naru, let me see that."

I picked up the dirty bill and held it at different angles finally stopping when I could read a majority of the symbols under the stains.

"If you read it left to right, it says…out-urado-by-were-to-listen-die-all-re-came."

"Isn't it just a bunch of characters?"

I stared at it for a minute with Yasuhara behind me. Then we both noticed it.

"Wait, 'do' is to the left of 'ura'."

"Yasu's right. *cough* This was probably written back in the Meji ear though, so they read right to left."

I put the bill down and began writing everything out on a piece of paper. Then, I held it up for the others to see.

"If you count the blanks as characters we don't know, it comes out as: _ _ came _ re are all die _ listen to _ urado _ _ out. *cough*"

Handing the paper over to Mai and the others, we soon figured out that it was a warning telling us to leave. I went and slumped down in a nearby chair, rubbing my temples and closing my eyes to block out the impeding headache. Of course, Madoka pounding on the window didn't help and I flinched at the noise the window made when it opened.

She seemed to be bothering Naru, which I couldn't help but mentally chuckle at, then she went off telling us about how only the inside of the mansion is dangerous and Atsugi wasn't seen outside either. It took me a moment to remember who Atsugi was, but then I had a sudden flash from my nightmare of a light haired man being dragged away, covered in blood. I covered my face and groaned quietly, knowing that I might have been able to save him as well if I had told Naru what I've seen. I mentally vowed to tell him and the others as soon as Madoka left.

When she did finally leave, Mai and the others began heading towards the door and I called out.

"Wait. *cough, cough*"

I was thrown into a coughing fit and Yasuhara, Mai, and John quickly came over. While John and Mai kept trying to help, Yasuhara put a cold hand on my forehead as my coughing had ceased.

"Xavier! You're burning up!"

"I know…But that's not important right now." Before Mai could rebuke, I continued. "Naru…I know what's happened to Suzuki and Atsugi."

"What?"

"What happened? Are they okay?"

I glanced guiltily at Mai and the others before shaking my head slowly.

"They're both dead."

Mai looked stricken as did a few others, but Naru just narrowed his eyes.

"How do you know?"

"I haven't been able to sleep because of the nightmares. Well, I guess the more proper term would be 'visions'…but these are so much worse. *cough* I saw Suzuki when the thing took her. It was a skinny hunched over figure with two large men in white coats. They went into her room and drug her out. She struggled, but no one could hear her and my body was moving on it's own to follow them.

"I don't remember much about where they took her. I just remember a door that lead to a hedge maze and another door that lead to a surgical bathroom of some sort. The place was covered in blood and the two men strapped her to a table. Then, she saw me. She began mouthing words that I couldn't hear or understand and I could feel myself fading so I gave her my cross necklace, telling her I'd find her. *cough, cough* Now that I think about it, I'm stupid for promising to save her. You saw me when I got up the next morning. I was too late."

I stopped talking as the others became depressed at the news and Naru spoke.

"Is there any other instances that you've had relating to this?"

"Yes. When I fell asleep the first night, I dreamed that I was showering and the water turned to blood with a white corpse at the bottom. Then, at the séance, I heard voices telling me to help them and that they didn't want to die, as well as flashes of the maze, white coats, knives, and blood." Here I shivered from both cold and the amount of blood I saw. Yasuhara was kind enough to hug me closer, but I wasn't quite finished. "I've already told you about the smell of blood at the entry way, but just last night I dreamt that the two men drug out two bloodied bodies…Atsuki and Suzuki…I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. If I did, maybe Atsuki could've been saved."

Yasuhara squeezed me comfortingly and told me,

"It's not your fault. Come on, let's get you into bed."

"Heh, I hope it's my bed you're talking about. *cough*"

He smiled a little at my pathetic attempt before picking me up and carrying me out of the room as the others went about discussing what they'd just learned.

* * *

Last night was horrible. Mai woke up screaming after being murdered in her vision and I had a repeat of what she went through later on that night. I was forced to stay in bed the next morning as well, since my fever was at an all time high and even I doubted I could do anything to help with the investigation at this point. Naru had everyone switching off on who stayed with me throughout the day and every new person had some piece of information to tell me.

It was kind of funny listening to Yasuhara tell me about his theory of Ohashi being a homicidal maniac and John freaking out every time I coughed. When it was Mai's turn though, she came in with John and I could tell she was forcing herself to be cheerful.

"Mai, what's wrong?"

"Another person disappeared…Fukuda."

"Ah, but there's something more, isn't there?"

She sighed and sat on the edge of my bed while John stayed further away to give us some privacy.

"Um…y-you heard about my dream, right?"

"Yes. Although I didn't mention it earlier, I had the same one a few hours after you went back to sleep."

"What?"

I rolled my eyes and spoke back to John.

"Relax. I'm fine. *cough* Aside from being sick, that is."

"B-But how do you deal with it? We didn't even know! I woke up screaming and I still can't get those images out of my head!"

"Calm down, Mai. I still see the images, but…I've dealt with something like this before."

The surprised look on her face was priceless, but depressing at the same time. I knew John knew what I was talking about and he politely turned away.

"Mai, You know how I told you about Andras?" She nodded. "Well, he actually used my body to kill all my friends that tried to summon him. I woke up and all I could see were the mangled corpses of colleagues and the blood on my hands. Sure, they may have treated me like crap and most people would probably never even consider them friends, but they didn't deserve that."

"B-But how did you…"

"Not go to jail? Heh, a local superstition. It was a small town and everyone in it was superstitious about devils and demons. They knew what the guys were doing and they blamed their deaths on the demon they summoned. When they saw me leaving unharmed though, half the town thought _I_ was the demon while the other half worshiped me, thinking I was a holy being who was spared…But what Atsuki, Suzuki, and Fukuda went through is something I've seen billions of times over in my own nightmares. The only difference is that it was my friends who were doing it to me."

John came over and ruffled my hair to try and comfort me as he spoke with Mai.

"I actually took her to a psychiatrist to see if he could help her."

"Heh, I remember James. He always gave me giant suckers afterward even though they were supposed to be for the child patients."

What I'd said eased up the mood a bit and John continued.

"Yeah. You always did love those suckers…But anyway, he said that the nightmares were a result of her trauma. That she blamed herself for their deaths and the guilt of what happened was playing out in her dreams."

"It was thanks to that though, that I became who I am; the tough, silent, know it all who doesn't believe in ghosts!"

I smiled a huge smile, one that I haven't used since before Andras, and Mai tackled me in a hug.

"Hey! Sick person here! *cough, cough*"

"Sorry…Thanks though, Xavier. You really cheered me up."

"No problem, Mai. Now get back to investigating and send Yasu in here." She laughed at me and I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing. I just like your nickname for Yasuhara is all."

I blushed at being caught and she just hugged me again saying how cute I was before leaving with John who looked slightly depressed. After a while, I began to worry which only became worse when the lights went out and the voices began again.

"_I don't want to die!"_

"_I'm scared!"_

"_Help!"_

"_It hurts!"_

"_Urado!"_

I yelled as the pounding headache I had increased 10 fold and the lights went out abruptly. The voices suddenly stopped and I collapsed on the bed completely exhausted, when Andras told me something.

"_Get out of here, child."_

_What? Why?_

"_This is no mere spirit you are dealing with. It is a man who tried to defy God. A devil's child."_

_Isn't that what you are?_

"_No. I am a human who became a demon. But that is besides the point! You need to leave this place before you are killed!"_

_What about the missing people? I may not have been able to save them, but I could at least bring their bodies back to their families! I promised to at least find them!_

"_You are damn stubborn…and I can't fight with you when you're pathetic human body is in this state…Just be careful, youngling. This man is worse than that wench Elizabeth Báthory."_

_Will do, Andras. Will do._

I groaned and the lights were turned back on and Mai came back in looking troubles and relieved.

"Aw, you miss me, Mai? *cough, cough*"

I went into yet another coughing fit to which Mai helped me up and gave me some water.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, but what the hell did you guys do to piss off the 'devil's child'?"

Her eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped open as Monk also walked in.

"Wha-How did you-"

"What's up, Mai?"

"Xavier just said that Vlad was the 'devil's child' but she wasn't even in the room with us!"

Monk ran over and grabbed my shoulder in a tight grip.

"How do you know? Who told you?"

I shoved my hand in his face and pushed him off me. His voice _really _hurt my head.

"Andras mentioned it. He kept telling me to leave before I was killed. Then he called me stubborn and talked about this Vlad guy. As he said, 'This man is worse that wench Elizabeth Báthory'."

Monk got up from off the floor and pulled a hand through his hair as he glanced at the door.

"You always seem to be one step ahead, Xavier…Oh, and Naru wanted me to tell you that you're going to have to get out of bed and come with us to go break down some walls, since no one will be around to watch you. You up for that?"

I nodded and stood up a bit too quickly, stumbling a bit and forcing Monk to steady me and check me again for a fever.

"Geeze. You're pretty bad. Maybe I could ask Naru to get someone to stay here…"

"No. I'm fine."

"No you're not! Mai, stay here with Xavier an-"

"I can take care of myself, Monk. Look, I have Andras's power if anything happens and he's able to protect me if I'm sleeping too, so just go. The chances of something happening are like, 2%."

He thought about it and mumbled an 'I don't know', but Mai managed to convince him to go after he left me some Buddhist protection charm and after she realized that I really just wanted some alone time. They left, and no one came back in, so I relaxed a bit although guilt flowed through my mind for lying to them. Andras wouldn't be able to protect me if I was sleeping and even using his powers while I was _this _sick could potentially kill me. Plus, because of Andras, the chances of anything happening were actually a good _62%._ I rolled onto my side, facing away from the door and thought to myself before going to sleep,

_Let's just hope nothing happens and maybe, with Monk's protection charm, nothing will happen._

* * *

**(Normal POV)**

Mai and the others finally decided to pack up their things and get ready to abandon the haunted mansion. Mai was still quite a bit displeased about everything, but was slowly accepting what they were doing, and decided to talk to Masako since Ayako was showering and Xavier appeared to still be asleep. Of course, they didn't exactly hit it off well and soon enough, Masako excused herself to go wait in the corridor for some fresh air. Mai flopped herself onto her bed and rolled over as she thought about what Masako had said.

Turning to Xavier's bed, she wondered how Xavier could even sleep quietly in this house with everything they've been through. It was then, that Mai noticed a glass of water had fallen on the floor next to Xavier's bed and wondered why Xavier hadn't picked it up already. Mai got up and put the glass back on the bed-side table, before bending over to check on Xavier, since she couldn't see her head from out of the covers. Just as she reached out to remove the sheets, Ayako came out of the shower.

"Ahhh. All fresh and clean! Sorry for the wait…Hey, where's Masako?"

Mai retracted her hand and just as she said 'in the corridor' something struck her. Running out of the room, Masako was nowhere to be seen. Then, she realized something else; Xavier hadn't said a word since they returned. Even when she _was_ asleep, because she was a light sleeper, she would normally join in the conversations…but now…

"Oh no…Xavier?"

Mai ran over and tossed the covers off to find just a pillow. Xavier had been taken as well, when? And for how long?

* * *

And so, the search began for the two missing SPR members. Madoka and Yasuhara had joined in, extremely concerned, but nothing compared to how Mai and Monk were feeling. Both blamed themselves for Masako and Xavier's disappearances, not to mention the looks Monk kept receiving from Yasuhara. Overall though, everyone was exhausted after searching all night to find them and tensions were starting to run high.

"I'm not apologizing for that!"

"Stop making us more tense!"

"Now, now, now. Calm down you two. I know you're anxious, but arguing won't help. Let's all take a moment and think of how we can fins Masako and Xavier faster."

Monk rubbed the back of his neck and Ayako turned away.

"Indeed. It's not good to get irritated."

"I-I'm sorry, too."

Mai was just as tired as the others and, after a little encouragement from Ayako, Mai went to sleep; hoping to see how Masako and Xavier are doing. Mai was soon surrounded by demon lights and when she spotted 'Naru', she decided to ask him for help.

"Um, do you know Masako? And where her and Xavier are at?"

'Naru' smiled and pointed to a door before disappearing. Turning the knob, Mai entered a small tiled room; the exact same one as her dreams. She was scared for a moment, but spotted a head of black and blonde over in a corner of the room.

"Ma-Masako? Xavier?"

Getting closer, Xavier and Masako lifted their heads.

"It's about time you got here *cough, cough*"

Xavier went into a coughing fit, leaning her head against the tile, while Masako spoke with Mai.

"I'm glad you're okay, Masako. Any injuries? Are you two alright?"

"Yes, but…so many scary emotions linger. I'm very tired…and Xavier-"

"I'm fine. *cough* Just exhausted and sick."

Mai glanced back and forth between the two of them, before turning back to Masako.

"Just a little longer. Just hold on a little bit longer. We're coming to save you."

Masako began speaking of her encounter with 'Naru', but quickly became depressed and began saying how she could've died already and had not known it.

"Shut up…Masako…If we were dead…I'd be kicking Vlad's ass right about now."

Xavier smiled lightly, but Masako wasn't convinced so Mai began searching through her pockets until she pulled out a small house key and handed it to Masako.

"This is a charm!"

"A charm?"

"It's my charm. It's the key to the house where I lived long ago. We believed in ourselves. Do you believe in yourself?…I haven't envisioned your death, Masako. Do you feel the key in your hands? Everyone is searching as hard as they can, and we'll find it soon. Hang on and believe me. We'll definitely save you and Xavier."

"Are you positive they're coming?"

"Yes. Positive."

"Hey, Mai. Urado or Vlad or whatever his name is came here with his two friends. *cough* Masako and I saw everyone killed…but I want you to promise me something."

"Anything!"

Xavier smiled and pulled out a 500 yen coin, handing it to Mai.

"Find Suzuki's body…and give this to Yasuhara."

"What? Why?"

"Tell him he owes me 500 yen now."

Mai glanced down at the coin and chuckled slightly, knowing that only Xavier could joke around in this kind of situation. When she looked up though, both Masako and Xavier had passed out.

"No…Wake up! Don't give up, Xavier! Masako!"

After waking up, Mai had given everyone the good news and they soon found another thin wall. Breaking it down, they went through a door into, what appeared to be, a house within a house. Mai discovered the fireplace room and soon, they were through the hedge maze and at the next door. Mai got over excited and ran off on her own into the tiled bathroom.

"Masako! Xavier! Answer me! It's me, Mai! Where are you?"

She slipped on something and her arm hit the table just as Masako called out to her.

"Masako! Thank goodness. Are you and Xavier alright?"

"I'm okay, but Xavier…her fever has gotten worse and she hasn't woken up!"

Mai quickly went over to Xavier and noticed just how bad of a shape she was in. She was covered in sweat and there was pain etched onto her face.

"Mai, are you injured?"

"What? No…"

Mai cut herself off when she realized the whole room was covered in blood. Masako screamed and Mai shown her flashlight around until it landed on the tub. The blood filled tub began bubbling and part of a head came out, causing Masako to scream once again as Urado pulled himself out of the tub. Mai immediately realized that she couldn't escape, not with Xavier who was bigger than her and still passed out on the ground. So, she began the Buddhist chant which tossed the man back into the tub.

"Masako! You have to get up so I can get Xavier!"

Masako ran towards the door and Mai grabbed Xavier, trying desperately to get her across the room. Suddenly, Mai was thrown against the wall and held by a set of hands. The squelching sound of Urado's blood covered feet got closer and closer until the man was maybe inches from Mai's face. Mai screamed as loud as she could and suddenly, Urado was pushed to the side and someone shown a flashlight into the room.

"Bastard…No one touches my friends!"

Xavier was up and had managed to punch Urado in the face, before leaning against the wall again. Lin, Naru and Monk had managed to get into the room after hearing Mai scream, and Lin called upon his spirits that managed to delay Urado. Mai slumped to the floor as Xavier collapsed and Monk made his way over.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Monk…Help Xavier! She's gotten worse!"

Monk nodded and went to pick her up, but Yasuhara got there first.

"Sorry Monk, but I owe her 500 yen."

The others were herded out and as they were running down the corridor, Naru yelled for them to go out a window to escape Urado, who couldn't leave the mansion. They all collapsed outside, wheezing and gasping, and Monk was the first to speak up.

"Man…Why…did you…charge in alone?"

"Yeah…sorry."

"Well, we did find her thanks to you."

"But our missing colleagues…"

"They were heaped on the upstairs' room floor, like cargo or things…Their necks were sliced. On top of that, the room before it was stacked with so many bones…Probably from the victims. After extracting the blood, Urado must have cremated them and neatly stacked them up."

Mai thought about this and how sad it was, when Masako came up to her and handed her back the key. Shocked, she showed it to the others who said it was another one of her talents.

"Oh, speaking of talents…John? Isn't this one of yours?"

Monk pulled out a bloodied cross necklace which John stared at in disbelief.

"I-It is, but…This is the one I gave to Xavier…"

They all turned and stared at Xavier, who was currently cuddled up against Yasuhara who didn't seem to mind at all. John went over and placed the necklace over her head, and some of the pain in her face lightened up a bit as she muttered.

"Suzuki…"

Everyone, except Lin and Naru, smiled gently and after speaking with Lin and giving Masako back her comb; everyone headed back inside to pack up and gave Ohashi the dreadful news.

* * *

**(Xavier's POV)**

I woke up to find myself lying in an unfamiliar bed in an altogether unfamiliar house. Touching my own forehead, I realized that I still had a fever, but it was extremely minimal compared to before and decided that getting up wouldn't be a problem. Of course, fate loves to prove me wrong and I began to fall when someone caught me.

"Now, now. Doctor says a few more days of rest~"

I looked up and blushed lightly at the sight of Yasuhara, who put me back in bed as the others walked in.

"Um, where am I?"

"At my house~"

I glanced at Yasuhara in shock and the others just laughed, Mai speaking up first.

"Don't worry. His mother is here too, and has kept him out of trouble."

I relaxed slightly and asked them to retell what exactly happened while I was kidnapped and unconscious. After a few hours of that, everyone headed out to leave and Yasuhara handed me something.

"Here you go! And don't tell me I've never given you anything, because 500 yen and a piggyback ride out of a window has to count for something."

I smiled at the, now clean, cross necklace and the 500 yen coin and placed the yen in my pocket before tugging Yasuhara closer and putting the necklace around his neck. Yasuhara seemed surprised, but the look didn't last long as his sneaky old man smile came back.

"Is this payment for the piggyback ride?"

"If that's what you want it to be."

He smiled even wider before his face blocked my view for a few seconds before he pulled back. I blushed bright red as he headed towards the door.

"_Now _I think we're even~"

_Andras…did this just happen?_

"_Oh yes. I think it did~"_


	5. Chapter 5

**Huzza! I have finished this in record time XD it only took me three days to write it! *cough, cough* anyway, i hope you enjoy it so please review ^^ and check out my profile for a poll I put up about a new story  
**

* * *

I sat at a bar stool, the ice clinking against my cup as I swirled the liquid in a circle. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day I was left at the orphanage. Evidently, today couldn't be a more perfect night to go drinking. I sighed again, just as my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was John.

"M'ello…"

"Xavier? Why's it so loud? I can barely hear you!"

"Hold on."

I stood, shakily due to the alcohol, paid the bar tender and left. The air wasn't much better outside than inside since it was heading towards summer, but that didn't matter at the moment.

"What'd ya need, John?"

"Oh, well…There's a case and I'm out of town so I was hoping you would go."

"John…You know what tomorrow is…"

"Xavier, did you go drinking again?"

"…"

"I thought I told you not to do that anymore!"

I rolled my eyes, causing myself to stumble into someone in front of me. Mumbling out an apology, I was yanked backwards and shoved into a wall. Apparently, the man I bumped into didn't think my apology was satisfactory.

"Sorry John, I'll head over there tomorrow if it'll make you happy, but I have to go."

"You think you can just bump into me and get away with that wimpy ass apology?"

"Xavier? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Later, John."

I quickly hung up the phone, stuffing it in my pocket so I could take care of this guy. I was drunker than I expected and he had managed to get a good hit to my face before I could react. Quickly disabling him, I left him leaning against the wall in an alleyway and hailed a taxi home. Tomorrow was going to be crap.

* * *

I couldn't have been more right. I had woken up with a major hangover the next morning and there was also a large nasty looking bruise on the side of my face, making it extremely hard to speak without causing pain. Lin had sent me the address of the estate we were going to be at earlier and I had once again called a taxi. I was a bit late, I realized when I finally set foot on the estate and spotted SPR's classic black van outside.

I headed towards the door, almost immediately feeling a sense of unease. For some reason though, I couldn't pin point the feeling as it appeared to be…_muddled_. Rubbing my temples, I rang the doorbell and was greeted by a young man probably around the same age as me.

"Y-Yes, can I help you?"

"I'm with the Shibuya Psychic Research group. Although, it seems like I'm a bit late."

"Oh! Well, come in. I just showed them where they were staying."

I nodded, stopping quickly when my headache flared, and followed the guy to a large Japanese style room where Mai and the others were wandering around adoring the scenery.

"Woah!"

"This is the room that overlooks the cove."

"This is definitely where ghosts could peek inside."

"You worry too much, Mai."

Everyone turned around, excited; Mai tackling me in a hug with a smile until she saw my face.

"Xavier, what happened to your face?"

I cringed at Mai's shout as Monk came up and grabbed my chin, turning my face from side to side.

"Woah. That's a real shiner. How'd you get this one?"

"Bumped into someone heading home last night."

"Hehe, what were you doing? Drinking down your sorrows at a bar?"

"Something like that."

I trailed off and went to stand over by Lin just as Mai and Ayako started fighting about their age. It wasn't long, before we were all sent to set up the equipment and right after that it was time to eat.

The table was full of people I didn't recognize, but I could always ask Mai. She appeared to be happy about something and I could bet five bucks it was because she remembered everyone's names.

"Shibuya, would you like sake?"

"No. Neither Lin nor I drink."

"Takigawa, Matsuzaki? How about you?"

"Thank you."

"And you…um…"

"Xavier Freimont, and sure. I'll take some."

They poured me a glass while the others stared in shock at me. They must not have known that I was of age. They were even more shocked though when they noticed that Lin didn't have any meat on his plate.

"Huh? Lin, you don't eat meat? At all? Are you a vegetarian?"

"Yes. During investigations, I refrain from meat to purify myself."

"Oh my. A medium's life is a harsh one."

Monk and Ayako looked a bit frazzled at that comment, but I could care less and continued to drink, which is a horrible idea seeing how I already have a hangover. Luckily, I was stopped before I could get too drunk when we were sent back to the base to get started.

"Are you planning to start monitoring tonight?"

_Ugh, this is why I didn't want to come today John._ I thought, sitting in a corner with a half empty cup of sake. _I swear, even that older serving lady knew I have something else on my mind…She gave me the rest of the sake._ Putting the drink up to my lips, I realized I was all out and frowned before glancing up to find Monk giving me a weird look.

"Um, I think you should lay off the sake."

He took the cup away from me quickly, like I was going to attack him the moment he touched it and I admit, I was considering it. He looked like he was going to bug me about what was wrong, but I was saved by Akifumi walking in with tea. Mai seemed happy enough about that and soon she was talking about the dinner with him, but something he said managed to catch my drunken attention.

"This was the first time I saw that odd expression on Eijirou."

"So you've never seen him look that way before? And the same goes for Kazuyasu?"

Seems I wasn't the only one interested in this new information and Naru continued to discuss the changes in everyone's personality. In total, about six people had drastic personality changes that started after the grandfather's funeral; the children being the worst. I thought it was odd, but I had a gut feeling that it wasn't the grandfather's funeral that started this.

"Xavier."

"Huh?…What do you want Naru? And where is everyone?"

"They left…I've been calling you for a while. What were you thinking about?"

"Just…possibilities. I have a feeling that the grandfather's death isn't the exact reason why all this is happening."

"I don't think that's everything, Xavier. Is there something else you want to tell me?"

I glanced in his direction and spotted him placing my empty sake cup back on the table. Turning back to the window, I mumbled out an answer.

"It's just a bad day for me is all."

"Have you spoken to Yasuhara about it?"

I was a bit surprised he would ask about Yasu, and blushed a bit.

"No…We haven't really been seeing each other lately; what with school and all. Then top that off with work and _this _and we don't exactly have much time to ourselves. John knows though, and he was the only reason I'm even here now or else I'd be at home drinking the day away…"

I waved it off and Naru was smart enough to take a hint, walking back toward Lin who'd probably been listening in as well. I'd just rested my head against the cool wall when a sudden yell echoed from somewhere down the hall.

"Lin, Xavier."

Lin immediately got up and I followed, my vision spinning slightly before settling. Naru gave me a look, but soon we were heading down the hall to the main room where the scream originated. Opening the door, we were greeted with quite the sight. Eijirou was growling as he struggled against the two men that kept him from attacking anyone with the large butcher knife he held in one hand. The pure unadulterated evil that emanated from him had my head aching ferociously, pulling with it something I hadn't felt in a long time; blood lust.

"Lin."

The voice barely registered, but it was enough to knock some sense into me and I forced the feeling back down. Falling to my knees, I tried to catch my breath as Lin tied up Eijirou. The feeling of someone watching me caused me to look up and spot Naru watching me with narrowed eyes.

"Go back to the base. Be prepared to explain later."

Nodding slightly I got up and made my way down the hall, stumbling a bit from my drunkenness. On my way to the room though, I spotted two huddled figures whispering to each other. Getting closer, I realized it was the other two children that were mentioned earlier and they quickly noticed me.

"Heheh. You feel it don't you?"

"She has to feel it, but she's holding it back."

I realized what they were talking about and my eyes widened as I took a cautious step back. The two started giggling to each other and whispering again, but I had enough and walked around them trying to control the rising headache.

_This isn't good. This feeling is the same as when I lost control years ago. What could possibly be causing it?_

I don't know when I got into the base or how long I'd been there, but Naru and Lin were back looking serious. Lin began preparing for something and Naru soon came over to me.

"Ayako is going to exorcise the spirit possessing Eijirou unless you are capable of doing it."

"Y-You want _me_ to do it?"

"I assume you've done exorcisms before with John…At least that's the impression he gave me."

"Well I can, but…something's wrong."

He gave me this look, gesturing me to continue and I wrung my hands together, somewhat nervous after what happened with the kids earlier.

"Before, with Eijirou, I lost it for a minute. I was almost overcome with a murderous feeling and I met up with two kids in the hall whispering about that feeling that I had…_Laughing_ about it…Whatever is in Eijirou, it's bad. Enough to get Andras riled up."

Naru looked away for a moment with a hand on his chin in thought before he finally turned back to me.

"I'll have Ayako do the exorcism for now. What you said has me somewhat concerned though, and I wish for you to be there for back up in case something goes array."

Pulling a hand through my hair I nodded and followed them to the room where they had Eijirou for the exorcism. I was still slightly shaken, but Naru mentioned that he called John and Masako and that they'd be here in the morning so I was calming down somewhat. That is, until the exorcism started.

"I reverently offer my spirit. Miyashiro, the aura enshrined here…the countless many who have taken roost here. Be at ease, be at peace, hear my request…"

The negative energy in the room rose and soon the spirit in Eijirou showed itself. Naru pushed Mai back as the spirit took the form of a large shadow fox. He then had Lin begin taking Mai out and I was frozen in place as I stared down the spirit. It stared evenly back and began laughing tauntingly at me, like it was amused. Suddenly, it stopped and stared over at Lin, Mai, and Monk before it set its eyes on Naru and I. Raising my arm to absorb the spirit a voice shouted out, distracting me.

"Xavier! Naru! Don't do it!"

I turned my head towards Lin before something shoved me aside, the fox spirit traveling through my arm before completely disappearing into Naru, who crashed into the wall. Pain, more intense than I could imagine, traveled up my arm in a tidal wave as Naru slumped to the ground with a cough. Biting my lip against the pain, I gripped my arm while trying desperately not to scream out. In the background, I heard everyone asking Naru if he was okay.

"I'm fine. How's Eijirou…and Xavier?"

I managed a slight smile at being remembered, noticing that Eijirou didn't have a clue about what happened since he was possessed. A hand waved in front of my face and I followed it up to find Monk looking concerned.

"-ey, you o-y?"

I could only make out part of what he said, but I understood and smiled painfully, having forgotten about the bruise on my face from yesterday. Helping me up, he half dragged me back to base where I took a seat across from where Naru sat with his head in his hands. I kept my eye on him, feeling the negative energy fighting within him, causing the pain in my arm to flare along with it.

Mai soon came over concerned at both of our pained faces and Naru stood, deciding to try and sleep it off. I simply stayed put, to tired to move especially since the alcohol was beginning to kick in.

"She completely butchered that exorcism. Does she think she lived up to her role? It's kind of weird how she calls herself a miko. Would a proper miko tremble during an exorcism?"

I couldn't help but tune into the conversation.

"She's a 'self-claimed miko' to the very end. I'd bet anything she's just a medium wearing the clothes of a miko."

Just then, the pain flared and I let out a gasp, alerting Mai, Monk, and Lin.

"Xavier, what's wrong?"

"T-The spirit…Stop Naru!"

I pointed to the monitors and Monk quickly saw the problem and ran out with Lin, Mai glancing back and forth between me and the door.

"Go Mai…I'll be okay."

She debated with herself for only a moment before running out and joining them. My vision spun all of a sudden as a voice spoke up within me.

"_You managed to keep me from killing that miko, you know. If you weren't pulled out of the way, I would've gotten you instead. But even now, you managed to get a part of me and you made it nearly impossible to completely control that boy…If you're not careful though…heheheh, let's just say luck may be on my side yet."_

It wasn't Andras. I knew that much and the voice sent tingles down my arm, making it feel like it wasn't mine anymore. Staring down at it, I flexed my fingers while ignoring the pain that traveled up my arm. The movement was jerky, like it was only halfway responding and when I rolled up my short sleeve, I growled lowly; a grey color covering most of my shoulder and appeared to be slowly spreading.

_This isn't good. Whatever this spirit is, it's doing a pretty good job of breaking the seals. We need to finish this up soon, or Naru's not going to be the only potential danger._

* * *

"Um, are you okay Xavier?"

I snapped out of whatever reverie I was in and just barely noticed John as he put his hand on my forehead.

"You're not sick again, are you?"

"No…When did you get here, John?"

"I-I've been here for a few hours now, don't you remember? You even waved to me on the way in."

I thought back and couldn't quite remember when I did that, but lied to keep John from worrying.

"Right. Sorry. I'm still hung-over."

He nodded slowly and held his hand out to me.

"Come on. Akifumi wants to show us the steps that Mai saw in her dream last night. I'll tell you about it on the way since you were lost in thought."

On the way outside, John explained to me about Mai's dream about the steps etched into the side of the cliff leading to a cave that held a shrine of some sort. Also, about how the spirits seemed drawn into the cave from the sea, some of them looking like fish. He then explained to me that people who died nearby in the sea and large objects would wash up there, including the family's dog.

Sure enough, Akifumi lead us towards the cliff side, pointing out the stone steps across the way. He mentioned something about them being old and Mai and Monk used this to dig up some more information.

"Do you know when the main house was built?"

"Well, that would be…the oldest member in our family cemetery was born in the ansei era, so before then. Would you like me to ask my grandmother?"

"Please do."

"By the way, when you say 'ansei era', what year was that?"

"Ansei ear is the years from late 1854 to early 1860. So it would be during the Edo period. Haven't any of you been to high school?"

I rolled my eyes towards the group as Mai yelled about her school still learning about the Genji and Heike war. Masako was also in the same place, but I couldn't see why John and Monk didn't answer. Monk easily avoided me, heading back to talk to Akifumi, and John just shyly chuckled.

"Sorry Xavier. I wasn't very good at history."

"It's fine. Monk didn't answer either."

He sweat dropped as we followed Akifumi to the other side of the cliff to see if we could spot the cove. Looking around, I listened to the stories behind a set of rocks that were out in the ocean nearby.

"It's said that a man and a woman leapt into the sea from here."

He continued on with a story about two lovers who were being pulled apart by a noble's greed. The couple planned to elope to get away from the man, but he intercepted their messages and the princess's lover killed the noble, thinking he was betrayed. The couple soon realized what had happened but it was too late and they jumped into the ocean; the gods transforming them into the two rocks to ensure they would never be separated again. It was a nice story in all, but I still had a feeling it didn't have much to do with what was happening. John yelled out to me, and I realized that they were heading somewhere without me. _Jerks._

We reached a small shrine that Akifumi said was being taken care of by the family, but what caught my immediate attention, were the three stones nearby. The moment I set my eyes on them, I felt a sharp twinge of pain travel up my arm. I had gotten used to the aches that it had been constantly giving out, but this was a bit much. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to keep from crying out at the pulses of pain that grew more intense as I stepped closer to the mounds. Reaching out, I touched a stone and a voice immediately flooded my senses along with even more pain.

"_You must help us! We are being used by a great power that continues to pull us back here!…In the cove! Hurry!"_

I was suddenly pulled away from the mounds, Monk and John hovering over me as I cried out slightly due to the pain. They were talking to me, but I couldn't focus on the words through the pain and soon, I felt someone lifting me up. Cracking an eye open, all I saw was a head of blonde and blue eyes looking at me in concern before everything went black.

* * *

Everyone returned to the base soon after what happened to Xavier and, at the moment, they were conversing about the possibilities of multiple spirits. Monk had naturally taken charge and he was growing more and more concerned about what was going on within the estate.

"We must watch over all of the family members. There isn't just one spirit, but potentially three or more. John."

John quickly glanced up from his place next to Xavier, who had been placed on the floor nearby.

"Yes?"

"What did you think of what we saw earlier, near Hazuki?"

"Well, personally, I couldn't figure it out…but Hara might have an idea, because there's a possibility that this is a malicious curse. I've already performed a temporary, simple exorcism and sealed the room."

"The result?"

"I-I don't know."

John sadly turned back to Xavier, trailing his hand through her hair slowly while Monk continued.

"Masako. Do you know what the spirit is?"

"I do not. I just get the same feeling as the spirit possessing Naru. If I had to say, it's an empty spirit. If there were no resentment, I would not sense this grudge."

She slowly turned her head towards Xavier and her face fell.

"Xavier has also been in contact with one of these spirits. Her right arm has the same feeling as Naru. It's possible she may have taken in some of the possessing spirit as well."

John heard this and reached over quickly, pulling Xavier's arm out from under the blanket of the futon and rolling up her sleeve. He was uneasy earlier when he noticed her wearing a dark sweater in the middle of summer, despite how thin she said it was. He sucked in a breath in shock, now knowing that he had a right to be worried. The skin from her shoulder down to her elbow was a light shade of grey and no one had noticed apparently, due to the shocked faces as Mai and even Lin came over to her side.

"W-Why didn't she tell us about this? It was obviously causing her pain!"

Lin lifted up her arm and began to examine it as John spoke.

"I'm sure she had a reason…It could be because she felt it was her problem or…"

"Or she doesn't trust us."

Mai turned to Monk shocked before looking back at John who nodded his head looking depressed. Lin placed Xavier's arm back down on top of the covers and returned to his seat.

"I cannot do anything about her arm unfortunately, because I do not know what my seals may do to her with her already holding a demon. The only thing to do would be to keep an eye on her. She has kept control of herself so far, but there is still a chance she may end up in a similar situation as Naru."

The room fell silent at Lin's words and Monk took over again with a sigh.

"Mai, have you felt anything?"

"Me? Um…This might conflict a bit with Masako's opinion, but I think there are dead people harboring a grudge. People who were brutally betrayed, surrounded by enemies, and killed. At this point, they…probably no longer have a connection with this land."

She fiddled with her hands, nervously as Masako brought a sleeve up to her mouth.

"If it is that sort of spirit, I would have recognized it already."

"R-Right. It was probably just a dream."

"It _was_ just a dream."

Mai gulped and Monk turned his attention to Akifumi again.

"What do you think? Have you ever heard anything like that?"

"No. I've never heard that story, sorry."

"Well then, do we know around when the Yoshimi family moved here?"

"I asked that, among other questions, and my grandmother didn't know."

Scratching his head, Monk closed his eyes while trying to collect his thoughts on what to do next. It wasn't long before he asked John to return to the hospital for an exorcism and for Ayako and Mai to hand out charms to the family. Giving Xavier one final look, everyone headed out to do what was asked, leaving her under Lin's protection.

* * *

"Yasuhara?"

"Oh, hello, Taniyama."

He smiled brightly, but Mai could tell it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I knew the person Monk was talking to on the phone was you. You just came? Wasn't it difficult?"

"It was really, really difficult. I flew in from Okinawa."

They continued to talk for a bit when Monk came over and asked him to investigate around the time of the ansei era.

"Ansei era? I'm surprised you know when that was, Monk. You don't seem like the history kind of person."

"Actually, Xavier told us when it was…"

He kind of trailed off and glanced over to where she was, as he rubbed the back of his neck. Yasuhara smirked maliciously and grabbed a hold of his shoulder harshly.

"I see, but we're going to talk about this later, Monk."

He let go, while Monk shrunk back towards Mai looking scared. Walking over to Xavier, Yasuhara knelt down and brushed her hair back, kissing her once on the lips.

"I'll be back, so you better be up by then, sleeping beauty."

He noticed her face scrunch up slightly and chuckled.

"Seems you're not too fond of that, so I'll be sure to remember that for later. Revenge for not being awake to see me."

Getting up to leave, he stopped in the doorway when Mai called out.

"You really love her, don't you?"

"Of course. She may not be social or completely trusting, but she'll come around and I'll always love her for being who she is even when she isn't."

Mai looked completely confused, to which Yasuhara just smiled and left, a hand brushing the cross that he kept around his neck.

* * *

After Yasuhara left, Monk, John, and Lin sat around the monitors listening to what sounded like roaring. Mai and Ayako came in from their lunch break and almost immediately covered their ears to the offensive sound.

"What is that? What's making that sound?"

"I don't know. When we checked last night's data, it was in there."

"It's like a sleeping dinosaur…"

The others agreed, but a shrill sound cut them off. There was a fire in the main building and soon everyone was rushing over there to help. Luckily, the children were already outside and everyone else who was in the room had already escaped via the window. Suddenly, Lin turned his head around to something only he could hear and began running back to the other building. He told Mai to stay and help with the fire, but she knew something was wrong with Naru and quickly followed after him.

"Lin!"

A growl reached her ears as she spotted Kazuyasu wielding a large knife as he tried to break down the doors the Naru was behind. Looking around, Mai also noticed Xavier in her futon nearby and worried that she too was in danger.

"Stop it. If you open that door, you'll die."

Lin warned the possessed man, but he just growled louder and returned to the door.

"Taniyama, could you try the nine words?"

"B-But I was told I can't do it!"

"If _I_ do it, he might get badly hurt. That kekkai won't hold much longer. If Naru wakes up, it's all over."

Mai debated on what to do and just as the man was about to get through the doors, she hesitated and Lin whistled. A large demonic had reached out from behind the doors and went to slash at Kazuyasu, but hit someone else across the arm as that person spun around and kicked Kazuyasu hard across the side of the head, launching him against the wall nearby. Standing up straight, Xavier glanced down at her now bleeding arm and spoke with a slightly distorted voice.

"Che, never liked familiars. Any unintelligent spirit who gets leashed like that is worthless."

"X-Xavier?"

Xavier turned and smiled wryly at Mai before suddenly being tackled by Kazuyasu, twisting in such a way as to toss him up in the air towards the window where he ran off. Lin glared once at Xavier before running out, yelling for Mai to get Monk and send someone to the base. Xavier stood and had her head turned towards the window, when Mai noticed Xavier's eyes had changed to a bright electric blue instead of their usual dull blue.

"You're not Xavier, a-are you?"

Turning back around, Mai took a step back upon seeing the sharp canines in Xavier's smirk.

"Not quite. I am simply borrowing her for a moment to assist in your little…_pest_ _problem_. Small fry like these need to know who _not_ to mess with."

"Then…who _are _you?"

"Ah, where are my manners." Xavier bowed deeply, a hand over her heart as she lifted up her head with another smirk. "I am Andras, at your service. Now I suggest you do as the Chinese onmyouji said, before things get out of hand."

She nodded and ran off as Andras laughed deeply, jumping out the window to follow Lin and Kazuyasu. _You have made quite remarkable friends, child. Truly worthy of your friendship it seems._

Mai soon gathered everyone and they met up with Lin who informed them that Kazuyasu could use kamaitachi, an attack that utilizes the wind as blades. Mai just reached the gate, noticing that Andras was nowhere to be found, when she suddenly felt as though she was falling. Hitting the ground, Mai realized it was the spirit possessing Kazuyasu who had killed Nao as well as the animals in the house.

"Kazuyasu…You did it. You're the one who pushed Nao. You also killed the birds and the dogs, and sabotaged the car. It was all you, wasn't it?"

Mai broke down and Monk stepped up, prepared to stop Kazuyasu should he need to. He was sliced across his arm, but Monk persisted.

"Who are you? Why do you want to awaken Naru? What is your purpose?"

"Death."

The possessed man jumped up and headed straight towards the cliff, a single hand reaching out to grab the man, only to grasp a handful of nothing. Andras sighed and stood, brushing off Xavier's pants and heading back towards the group with a slight scowl, as Mai cried.

"I was a bit late, it seems."

"This is horrible. Why did this happen? What did we come here for?"

"This was…okay like this."

"Akifumi! When did you-"

"At least he will never know what he did."

Akifumi turned around and left, looking quite sullen when Andras spoke.

"Hm, smart…for a human."

Everyone gave her a questioning glance and Mai suggested they go back to the base for an explanation. Once there, Mai handed out tea to everyone and bandaged Andras's arm as they returned from changing out of their smokey and torn clothes; Monk being the first to speak.

"So Xavier, what's with the pompous attitude?"

"For a monk, you aren't very intelligent. Even the half psychic girl was able to figure it out within a few minutes."

Andras took a sip of his tea calmly while Monk raged and the others chuckled amused. John, on the other hand, had narrowed eyes as he took in the figure sitting regally in front of him. Andras smiled devilishly at him, eyes flashing momentarily.

"Is there something you wish to say, priest? Being her friend for so long, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned anything yet."

"You're Andras…aren't you…"

"The one and only. A great marquis of hell, ruling thirty legions of demons, and a highly dangerous sower of discord. I am Andras."

The group was quickly on their feet, arms posed to potentially exorcise the demon out of Xavier, aside from Mai who sat there glancing at everyone confused. Andras didn't seem to care though, sipping from his cup nonchalantly before setting it down on the table gently.

"I wouldn't do that. If you attempt to remove me, Xavier would end up in quite a bit of pain and the pest you allowed to enter her body would be able to take her over without very much trouble. So, I suggest you _sit down._"

His eyes glowed for but a moment and they all took their seats, their human instincts knowing better than to argue. Silence and tension surrounded the room, and Mai took a chance and broke it.

"So, um…how long are you going to be here? I mean, like in Xavier's body or whatever."

"I will forever be a part of Xavier until we find a way to separate us with little pain. As far as this case goes though, I will be returning as soon as I finish this cup of tea. It is surprisingly good for a human drink; very relaxing."

"Thank you, but what about Xavier?"

"She should be fine after a bit more rest. I have used a lot of energy by doing this and, although it was slightly easier due to her low energy levels, she is almost completely recovered now and will be shoving me back soon."

"What do you mean, 'low energy levels'?"

It was Monk who spoke this time and Andras sighed before locking eyes with him.

"When the spirit passed through her arm, a part of it got trapped within her. Because of this, that spirit was not able to fully utilize the young psychic's body to kill the miko earlier due to the piece that is now harbored within this arm. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem and the piece of the spirit we have would be absorbed, but there is a strong outside force pulling at the spirit constantly and it is causing my seals to weaken as a result of the pushing of the spirit inside and the pulling from outside. The grey coloring of her skin right now proves that my seals are weakening and that said spirit is close to being able to control this arm, which would prove dangerous to you all should the pest be able to pull out the sealed spirits within us. In other words, Xavier and I have been continuously trying to force this spirit back and she had exhausted herself when she spoke with the spirit at the graves."

"So that's why she collapsed. Do you have any ideas what may be behind these phenomenons?"

"That I do, but to tell you would be a waste of some good enjoyment. Not to mention the fact that Xavier wouldn't want me to. I may be a demon, but she and I have made a compromise; she listens to me, I listen to her. Things move a lot smoother this way and she doesn't go putting herself in bodily harm _on purpose_ like she did once before when I decided to not listen. Ah, but she is quite the interesting human. As much as I regret being forced into this body, I'd rather it be _her_ body than any one else's."

The demon smiled blissfully as Monk prepared to yell again, when Andras held up a hand and stood up, walking over to the futon in the corner.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Xavier wants her body returned…There is one thing I am willing to tell you though."

Everyone perked up, hanging on the demons words as he laid down.

"You are all closer to Xavier than any other human I've known, since I've been in her body…and it won't be long before she trusts you…So, as God doth sayeth, 'Ask and ye shall receive'."

Xavier's eyes closed and she was soon in a restful slumber, leaving the SPR group to wonder about Andras and if what he said was about them was true.

* * *

It was dark, pitch black, and yet I could feel the burning sensation of flames traveling all throughout my body. I could hear voices in the background, like hearing through some unseen filter, and soon I could see shapes in the darkness, moving un-orderly and almost chaotically. Struggling to get my body to respond, I yelled only to realize that I couldn't find my voice so I calmed myself and focused on the voices around me, searching for some sign of recognition.

"Sleeping dinosaur"

_Mai._

"No. Listen carefully."

_Monk._

Suddenly, my head was filled with voices growing louder and louder, chanting sutras and causing my body to burn more fiercely. I gasped and willed my body to move, finally getting a response when the sutras silenced. It was small, but my hand twitched and the burning in my body died down to a slight ache. My hearing returned next, but my eyes would still not open and I heard people leaving the room, just as the lights went out, putting me in near complete darkness once again.

"_Help us! We're being used!"_

"_We don't wish to do this!"_

"_Child! You're in danger! Move!"_

The last voice was Andras and I felt his power seep into me, forcing myself to move just as the glass shattered above me. I felt a large piece embed itself into my lower back, but I managed to stumble over to the other side of the room where Lin, Ayako, Mai, Masako, and…_was that Yasu?_ Sure enough, the moment I got over there, Yasu caught me as I fell and pulled out the piece of glass.

"You okay?"

"I'll be better when I beat some zombie ass!"

Standing up, I heard Yasu chuckling behind me mumbling something like 'that's my girl' before I began my own chants.

"spiritus quondam…ego intra me daemonium plus quam tu…et ego eieci te de hac virtute…per advocata de tenebrous animas intra me"*

Swinging my right arm out, the large dog from the last case appeared and guarded the doors leading to Naru while a masked sword wielding man began his assault on the rest. I continued, knowing that with the strength I have now, I should be able to keep these two out until morning, should the need arise. Things weren't going well when they began using kamaitachi though, and soon we were beginning to be overwhelmed when, luckily, Monk showed up and sealed the room off.

"Try…getting past…_this_, bastards!"

The corpses went away, but I noticed John wasn't with him.

"Where's John?"

"Leading Akifumi and the rest. They'll be here soon…When did you wake up?"

"A while ago."

I said with a deadpan expression, petting the large dog while fist pumping the swordsman beside me which got a look from everyone in the room. Interrupting our silent discussion was a yell from down the hall. Monk was the first one out, followed by Ayako, Mai, and I as I ordered the two spirits to stay behind. When we found John, he was battling off white orbs and I quickly went behind him to help bring people back to base. Just before I reach one of the children though, John yelled out.

"Don't touch those white things. They're dangerous!"

I turned around as one passed through Mai and she collapsed, alerting me that these spirits cause pain. Spotting one heading towards the group of huddled people, I grit my teeth and grabbed the sucker by the tail end; tossing him towards John's holy water as a sharp pain, similar to being stabbed cut through my palm. Grunting, I hefted up a child and led everyone towards base after Monk made the spirits disperse.

Once there, I made sure the non-psychics understood that my two spirits were here to help and fell to the floor over by Yasu and Monk.

"Takigawa, how are your wounds?"

"Very bad, but I don't want a guy playing doctor with me."

"Che, if you can still joke around, Monk, then you can't be that bad."

"Says you, Xavier! You're the one giving your samurai friend fist bumps!"

I shrugged and watched as Yasu asked to take a look at Monk's wounds. The moment he lifted up the guy's shirt though, Monk wailed like a girl.

"Eek! Pervert!"

"Shall I pour hydrogen peroxide over your head?"

Lifting up his shirt, Yasu quickly gave Monk's back a serious look before warning him it was going to hurt, to which he screamed; earning giggles from many of us.

"You're a man. Endure it!"

"Well, tonight I'll be a girl!"

"Oh, please."

"Yeah, Monk. Don't creep us out, would ya? You won't hear me screaming like that."

"Well yeah! You're practically a guy in disguise! Ow! Not so rough there!"

"Hm? What was that Takigawa-_chan_?"

I smirked in the dim light, knowing Yasu was on my side when I felt something enter the room. Turning to Lin and the others, I smirked.

"Lin, you have all your familiars now, right?"

"Yes. You can feel them, I suppose?"

"Mhmm…and now that I'm finally awake after our little mishap, I assume you all would like to know about what I discovered?"

Everyone's attention was on me and I took a deep breath as I collected my thoughts.

"The spirits in this house are familiars. Something else is using them and the spirit within Naru and I is one of the monks who're buried under the three stones by the shrine. Though they still harbor a grudge, they never wished for things to get this out of hand and they are tired of being pulled away from where ever it is they're suppose to go."

"Okay, do you know _who_ is controlling them?"

"No. All I know is that…it has something to do with the cove."

"Well, that is fine and dandy and all, but I need you to scoot over her so I can bandage your wounds as well, Xavier. Then, you can tell me all about your little friend here."

I headed towards Yasu as he smiled and gestured towards the swordsman before patting the floor in front of him. After I sat down, I lifted up my shirt as well (only not as high) and earned a couple of gasps from the women's side of the room. If anything, my back was probably similar to Monk's judging by the look he was giving me which consisted of concern and eagerness.

_He's probably waiting for Yasu to start cleaning me up so he can hear me scream. Too bad I'm not going to scream._

True enough, Monk's face fell when all I did was flinch in response to Yasu cleaning my wounds. I decided, just to spite him, that I might as well talk about my 'little friend' without so much as a stutter.

"So, you wanted to know about my crazy swordsman? I'm not sure all of you have heard of him…His name's William Lamport, nicknamed El Zorro."

I heard Monk whisper out a 'no way' and could practically _feel_ Yasu grinning behind me, while the others just seemed confused.

"Man, you guys are hopeless. Anyway, I'm sure you want to know how I came about him…Let's see…I was in Mexico at the time, over near Mexico city, to learn some old fashioned fist fighting and Spanish swordsmanship which was being held on some old property. When I asked the man about his other students, he explained that I was the only one after they discovered a ghost that defeats all of the students during their late night training. So, I offered to see what I could do and had a duel with William over there, beating him. I would have just left it at that, but seems he was holding a bit of a grudge against the Mexican government and he'd been corrupted by a demon. Needless to say, I absorbed him and we became good pals and sword training partners not too long after. He's a great story teller as well."

I grinned, surprising most of the people in the room, before everyone was told to get some rest. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, in order to keep my spirits on guard, but leaned up against Yasu under a blanket against the wall. I took off his glasses and set them aside.

"Night Yasu."

"Goodnight, sleeping beauty."

I felt him smirk as he kissed my temple, me blushing while hoping no one saw that. Then I scowled.

_Wait a minute. Sleeping beauty? Why does that irk me so much?_

* * *

I had been zoning out most of the night in a half conscious state, when I felt Yasuhara shuffle beside me. His arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me close, his head leaning on my shoulder. My face flushed, still not quite used to the contact when his lips brushed the edge of my ear.

"Good morning princess."

"Morning and don't call me that."

"Why not?"

Reaching around, he picked up his glasses from the ground next to me.

"I'm not the princessy type. If anything, I'm more of a Joan of Arc, mercenary type."

"Ah, but you'll always be _my_ princess, even if you're not willing to wait in the tower for me to save you."

"I guess."

I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed when I noticed that a majority of the SPR were gone, leaving Lin, Naru, Yasu, and I with the rest of the sleeping family. I yawned and Yasu stood up, wrapping the blanket around me.

"I'll go make you some tea. You should have gotten some rest though. Your bags have bags."

He chuckled and I rolled my eyes tiredly, gesturing over to where my two spirits were sitting.

"If I fell asleep, they would return to me and you wouldn't have a chance to speak with the great William Lamport." Said swordsman chuckled deeply before I continued. "Oh, and where did everyone go, Lin?"

"They left to go exorcise the three monks. You appeared to be only semi conscious and they felt it would be better if you didn't come."

I nodded, too worn out to argue as Yasu handed Lin and I some tea. I was about halfway done with the drink, listening to Yasu's laughter at William's humorous stories, when my arm suddenly gave out and my cup crashed to the ground. Lin and Yasu's attention was on me as I tried to get my arm to work, to no avail. It was then, I noticed the grey discoloration that now reached the very ends of my finger tips.

"Well, shit."

My arm moved and grabbed a hold of Yasu, throwing him to the side forcefully as Lin stood up. I grabbed my arm with my other hand, trying in vain to get it to stop before it did something I regret.

"_You won't be able to stop me with your mere human strength."_

_I might not, but Lin is more than capable._

"Lin!"

He looked a bit unsure, but nodded and quickly had me pinned to the floor before tying me up to keep me from harming anyone. He got off me, leaving me lying chest down on the floor with my arms tied behind my back and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of my head.

"Are you okay, Xavier?"

"Currently? I'm in the process of trying to shove this pest back down, but he's proving to be stubborn…And I thought _our_ monk was bad. You okay though? I did shove you pretty hard."

"You didn't shove me, the monk did…and I'm fine. Nothing more than a few bruises. Hey, is it just me, Lin, or is the coloring retreating?"

Lin rose an eyebrow and walked over to look at my arm. I felt him poking me and was a bit surprised at this.

"Can you feel this, Xavier?"

"Yeah."

"Try moving your fingers."

I did and Lin headed back to his chair.

"Seems whatever they are doing outside is working. The grey coloration is slowly retreating and you will soon have full use of your arm, but we will keep you restrained for now as a precaution."

"That's fine. I don't mind"

Just then, the sliding door to Naru's area opened up and Naru himself walked out looking less than pleased. Lin was at his side in a matter of moments, but Naru shrugged him aside, glancing at my predicament with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Nice to see you've finally tamed that girl of yours, Osamu."

"Heheh, couldn't have done it without Lin's help."

Rolling my eyes, I almost didn't notice Naru coming over and pulling up my sleeve before sitting down in front of me with a cup of tea in his hands. He took a sip, obviously enjoying the suspense he was putting me in.

"You gonna say something, or just sit there, sleeping beauty?"

I smirked when he glared at me for the nickname, but then he spoke.

"Do you know who we're going up against? I have obviously been out for some time and, although I have a guess, it would help to hear if you have come to the same conclusion as me."

"I _guess_ I could tell you…but you're not going to like it."

"If it's the same as mine, I already don't like it."

"It's okobu-sama. We're going to have to go against a God and Andras and I won't be able to do much against that. If I try to absorb a God, I'll be killed from the inside out. The best I could do is use the spirits I have to take it apart bit by bit and absorb only a part of it."

"In that case, that is all I'll need you to do, so hurry up and recover. I don't need you getting in the way."

"_Yes boss._"

I grumbled sarcastically as he went to a nearby table, ordering Yasu to find something. Needing all the energy I could get, I released William and the dog and went ahead and took a nap. Not in the most comfortable position, but I can deal with it.

"Naru!"

Groaning because of my interrupted nap, all eyes turned to me, still tied up on the floor. Seems Monk, John, Ayako, and Mai had returned and they laughed seeing me all tied up.

"Oh. So Yasuhara's into _those_ kinds of things~"

Monk wiggled his eyebrows at him and I sighed, looking over at Lin.

"Hey, can you untie me now? My wrists hurt."

Lin glanced over at Naru, who nodded and soon, I was sitting up rubbing my chafed wrists. Looking closer at them, I winced; the red rings throbbing. Getting up, I grabbed the first aid kit and began bandaging them over by Naru who was, like me, beyond angry. I spotted Yasu whispering to them and glared in his direction, indirectly telling him to shut his mouth before I go over there and do it for him. As you can see, I get really cranky when I don't get my sleep.

"Ahem. I guess the origin of the curse isn't the rokubu spirits."

"No shit Sherlock."

"Xavier's right. It's Okobu-sama."

"How-How did you know?"

"Our brains are different from yours."

I nodded and began working on the other wrist when Yasu discovered the papers he was looking for.

"I found it!"

"The content?"

"Um, Curse of the Guardian God. The God honored in a certain shrine as okoboshi-sama is an ebisu God, so that indicates okobu-sama. Ever since they started worshipping okoboshi-sama, it is said that the storms and high waves have stopped. So it was highly respected…but if the villagers or iwai failed to give honor, disaster immediately followed. Especially the iwai household will be cursed and many people will die."

"Xavier, what is an iwai?"

"An iwai is like a guardian of a shrine."

"Um, what does that mean, as far as okobu-sama goes?"

I tied off my bandages and sighed.

"Here, let me dim it down a little. There's a shrine, and behind that, a cave. The cave is where corpses wash ashore. There's a small shrine and honored there is an ebisu known as okobu-sama. There is an old stone stairway leading from the cave to the shrine, made by scraping away the cliff. Now _why_ would anyone go through all of that troublesome construction? There has to be a good reason…and that reason is?"

They all still looked confused, so I face palmed and turned to Naru.

"You try and get through to this people. They're your workers. I'm getting more tea."

I got up and he continued where I left off, not quite happy that he has to explain it to them either.

"Because the main God of the shrine is placed in the cave. So they _had_ to do it. They wouldn't have done it if it were a minor God. The God in that small shrine has to be powerful enough to make them go through the trouble."

"I see. That explains the legend."

Naru then went on this lengthy explanation about how okobu-sama went about cursing this family to begin with, leaving most of the group dumbfounded before announcing that he was going to exorcise it. Immediately, the group began to disagree, hoping to simply let it be and have the family care for it, but Naru and I had a bone to pick with that pesky God.

"So let it go? I think not. It gave us _such_ a fun experience. It's only fair that we should reciprocate."

"I agree with Naru. If anything, someone needs to put that bastard in his place. Or did you want to retreat?"

Naru and I glanced at the group who flinched back, each and every one of them coming up with an excuse to be unable to exorcise the God.

"Well, I can't do it! There's no tree there that can help me."

"Me neither…I can only deal with spirit possession. If it's a God, I don't know what to do."

_I figured Ayako and John couldn't do much of anything about that._

"Lin?"

"I don't think we can do it. Naru, I suggest keeping our hands clear of this one."

"What about you, Monk? What's your excuse?"

"Sheesh…I could try, but maybe we should listen to Lin and not do it."

"I don't need anyone who is incompetent."

That caused a majority of them to suit up and prepare. I, myself, also getting ready by meditating and connecting with Andras, telling him of the situation.

"_I'll do my best. After what that pesky God did, I'm more than willing to unleash my full strength to help you and your friends."_

_They're not my friends, Andras._

"_Then what are they? You know they are close to you and I may be a demon, but I know a bond when I see one. These bonds will become your strength in the near future, so I suggest you trust them, child."_

I broke connection with him, our conversation leaving a scowl on my face all the way into the cave. I stuck close to Yasu and Naru, who told me to stand back and do nothing until it was proven that the others could not handle it. I didn't argue.

"Let's begin."

"On haba haba kiuta saba trauma. Saba saba kitsu dokan. On data gato nau beba ya sowaka."

Almost immediately, I began to hear what sounded like a heart beat and soon the others began to hear it as well. Then, the wall I was leaning against began to pulsate. Needless to say, I was no longer leaning against that wall. Next, it sounded like breathing and the entrance appeared to seal over. Monk stopped chanting and Naru, being the ever calm one along with me, announced.

"Don't bother with it. If we get the main cause, it'll open."

"They're not listening."

I whispered as spirits began to come through the walls, wailing. John quickly got rid of the first batch and Naru quickly got Monk back on task. More of the spirits began to float through the wall and at this point, everyone was fighting against them except of Naru and I. I knew better than to waste my strength now when we were up against a God. Unexpectedly, the ghosts all changed to a dull red color and our attention was brought back to Monk as he launched himself forward to stab okobu-sama. The tokkosho pierced the wood, but it did not break and Monk was thrown across the cave into a wall, knocking him out.

"John, grab that tokkosho. Use it to break the wood."

John grabbed it and pulled it out, bringing it up high to stab it, but he too was thrown away and Yasu dashed forward only for the same thing to happen. I flinched when he hit the wall, picking up his glasses as they landed at my feet and handing them back to him.

"You okay, Yasu?"

"Ow, yeah…For the time being I'm still alive anyway."

"Is that all?"

Naru was standing there looking unimpressed and silently, I agreed. I felt that they could do better if they possibly all attacked at once, but I'm not one to voice my thoughts and stood up next to him just as Mai yelled out her own thoughts.

"That's enough already! I've had it! Why are you so built up with this? Everyone's been pushed to their limits helping you! Why do we have to go through all this just for your pride? Are you insane? If it's so important to you, why don't you just do it yourself? You're protected by others, so I don't know how much pride you can have!

Same with you Xavier! You haven't done anything since we got in here! You've just stood back and watched as others get hurt like you always do! Yasuhara even got hurt and you still want us to go on with this? You may not trust us, but we've always trusted you…and now you've disappointed us all."

"Logical argument."

I said nothing, turning to glare at the shrine as everyone was helped up and they turned towards the ocean side exit, hoping it wasn't sealed.

"Naru, Xavier, let's go…Naru? Xavier?…hey, what are you two doing?"

"Don't!"

We both ignored Lin and I began chanting, my right arm held out as the dog and William appeared in front of me, sword and claws attacking the God.

"o daemonium de tenebris et odium…signatum sanguine meo et ad me…quia peccavi et sum maledictus portare tuum odium aeternum"**

I felt the power course through me from Andras as well as Naru's opposing power as he launched an attack at the God. I felt his aura fluctuate and immediately ordered Andras to give him some of my own power.

"_No! If I do that, you may not have enough power to absorb the God! It could kill you!"_

_You wanted me to trust, well now I'm trusting. If I die now, I'll be happy just to have met them. Give it to him…just think of it as payback for not listening that one time, okay?_

"_If that is what you want."_

I grabbed a hold of Naru's shoulder and felt the power leaving me, the ache in my arm from absorbing about a third of the God burning; the scent of burnt skin filling my nostrils.

"What are you doing?"

"Just helping you out a bit…Looked like you needed it."

His eyes widened at my pained smile just as Masako let out a gasp.

"The atmosphere…It's clear. This is not a sacred ground anymore. Spirits will not be summoned. This cave is just an ordinary cave now."

Monk let out an audible sigh where he was seated on the ground next to John, who was glancing at me concerned.

"Right now, I'm thinking if you two were able to do it yourselves, I wish you'd have done it earlier."

"As my dear Andras would say, Monk, 'there's no fun in that'."

"Let's go."

I followed Naru out, staying near the back with him. The other's weren't paying attention and I stumbled along, blood dripping down the sleeve of my dark sweater unbeknownst to anyone. My vision began to swing dangerously and I could feel my body shutting down, but just before I collapsed Naru turned around and began coming over before he too fell to the ground.

* * *

"Are you okay? Can you walk?"

Mai was trying desperately to encourage everyone long enough to get to the shade, when she heard Masako cry out.

"Naru! Xavier!"

Both of them had collapsed on the rocks and Lin quickly ran to Naru's side while Yasuhara forced himself to stumble to Xavier's. Suddenly, Lin's eyes went wide and he put his head to Naru's chest.

"L-Lin?"

He came back up and began CPR on Naru and then relaxed after checking him again. Naru was breathing, for now and John hurried off to go call an ambulance. Just then, Yasuhara's voice cried out.

"Xavier! Breathe, God dammit!"

Lin lifted his head and ran over to her side to also begin CPR. They continued to try over and over again to get her breathing, stopping only when the paramedics arrived and continued the CPR on the way to the hospital.

"I need to talk to the person in charge."

Lin stood up and the doctor soon began to explain the conditions of Naru and Xavier.

"Both are in a state of shock with weak, and sometimes irregular pulses. Although the boy seems to be recovering fairly quickly, he may fall back into a deeper state. He'll need to be hospitalized so we can monitor his progress."

"And Xavier?"

"She…She is most certainly in worse shape. We're doing everything we can at the moment just to keep her alive and she has already relapsed several times. We have her stabilized at the moment, but…I doubt she'll make it through the night. I'm sorry."

They both bowed to each other, everyone listening put in a state of shock at the news that Naru needed to be hospitalized and Xavier may die. Mai stood up from the bench and hurried over to Lin, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention.

"Lin, is something wrong with Naru?"

"No. It's not like he has a chronic disease. Xavier's condition is more concerning at the moment."

"T-Then…he used qigong. Is that the reason? This happened before to Naru. You said he just fainted, but that wasn't the real reason, was it? You knew this was going to happen, so you tried to stop him?"

"Yes."

"Is qigong that dangerous? I thought it could cure illnesses. Why does Naru fall when he uses it?"

She clutched her head and Lin tried to calm her down so he could explain about Naru's excessive amount of chi. He then told her about how he taught Naru qigong in order to compensate for that and she seemed to calm down.

"It's my fault. It's because I provoked him…Xavier too…"

"It was their fault."

"But-"

"I knew Naru understood what was going to happen and I'm sure Xavier understood as well. If they were more level headed, they wouldn't have been so provoked. But, I suppose they were upset with themselves. Naru has too much pride and Xavier seems to have something similar. It may be because of her past and maybe she didn't want to see those close to her hurt because of her negligence…but none of this is your fault.

When Naru wakes up, he'll be in a bad mood for a while. He was upset and did what he normally wouldn't do, so he blundered twice. If he hadn't succeeded in the exorcism, he probably would have died from indignation."

"Probably…but Xavier…What should we do? Yasuhara-"

"She'll be fine as well, I'm sure. She doesn't seem like someone who will give up over something like this."

* * *

The SPR was allowed to stay at Akifumi's estate and they had funerals for the dead members of the family. It wasn't long, before Naru awoke and everyone was trying to keep in high spirits, hoping that Xavier would also awaken. Yasuhara, having been released faster than expected, was constantly in Xavier's room with John visiting frequently as well. None of the group had a clue as to what had happened to cause the severe burns on her right arm and, shockingly, Naru asked to go see her. He was less than happy about having to be wheeled into her room, but didn't utter a single word as he sat and watched her.

She didn't look very well either. Countless wires and monitors were attached to her and she was thinner than before, skin now a pale white color in comparison to its normal peach hue. Her uninjured hand was curled around Yasuhara's and he looked absolutely crestfallen. One surprising word broke the silence that had fallen over the room.

"Sorry." Everyone turned to stare at Naru in shock, trying to understand why he was apologizing. "Xavier's condition is partially my fault."

"N-Naru, what are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that I owe her my life."

Now, they were all taking their seats to listen to what exactly Naru was saying. The man himself sighing.

"Not long after you exorcised the three monks, I asked Xavier about what she could do should we exorcise the God. She explained to me that she would only be able to absorb part of it for, if she tried to take it all in, she could potentially die. I agreed that she should absorb only a section of it, which she did. After that though, she put her hand on my shoulder and I felt warmth flood me. I believe that she transferred some of her power to me when she noticed my weakened state…Without that, I'm positive I would also have been in her state, if not dead."

"So she…she gave you her power so you would live? But what about her? Did she know this would happen?"

"She did. When she gave me her power, I heard someone speak to me, who I believe was Andras. He said, 'She trust you more than you could imagine. Enough to risk dying to save any one of you'."

Mai began crying, lying her head on the bed next to Xavier's injured hand, as the others looked down solemnly. Someone began rubbing Mai's hair slowly and she looked up to thank them only to find Xavier's hand on her head.

"X-Xavier?"

"Not so loud…I'm still tired." Everyone quickly began smiling or, in Mai's case, crying out of joy. "Mai, who said you could cry?…You're making my sheets all wet."

"Heheh, I missed you so much!"

She hugged Xavier, who half hugged back, when Mai noticed Yasuhara sitting back in his chair. Smirking to herself, Mai let go of Xavier and began rolling Naru out of the room, telling everyone else to leave as well. They seemed a little reluctant, but Mai managed to get Monk on her side and he helped get the rest out, leaving Yasuhara and Xavier alone.

Silence covered the room and Xavier painfully sat herself up in the bed, Yasuhara coming over to help her.

"Thanks, Yasu."

He stayed silent and she looked over at him, concerned. His glasses had a glare on them and she couldn't see the emotion he held behind the lenses. Reaching her uninjured hand out, she spoke softly.

"Yasu?"

"What were you thinking?"

It wasn't very loud and Xavier could barely hear it, but once it was said, she pulled a hand through her hair and looked away awkwardly.

"It would be lying to say I wasn't thinking, but…I just didn't want him to die and I was willing to do anything to achieve that. Everyone in the SPR has forced their way into my life and you're the only people who have been willing to knock down the walls I built up…Not one of you should have to deal with losing someone that close to you…and I couldn't stand to have you guys go through the same pain that I did."

Xavier was now looking down at her hands, remembering the blood that covered them when Andras killed her 'friends'. She felt a tear slide down the side of her face and she reached up to wipe it away, only for Yasuhara's hand pulled hers away. She looked up at him just as he captured her lips with his own. She kissed back, the tears flowing freely with all the emotion Yasuhara put behind the kiss. She could feel how happy he was, how relieved he was, how much he loved her and as he pulled away, she understood what he was trying to explain to her. She was as much a part of the SPR group as any of them.

"You're not allowed to die, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

Little did they know, the rest of the SPR lay hidden just outside their room, witnessing everything through the small crack of the door with smiles on their faces.

* * *

******This seems like a good ending to me, but if you think otherwise, tell me through a review ^^**

***English Translation:  
oh spirits of the deceased  
I hold within me a demon more powerful than thou  
and with his power I shall banish thee from this place  
by the summoning of the dark souls within me  
**

****English Translation:  
oh demon of darkness and hate  
come to me and be sealed within my blood  
for I have sinned and am cursed to carry thy hate for eternity  
**


	6. Chapter 6 part 1

**Okay. Due to someone wanting the last arc, I have wrote yet another chapter ^^ it's a bit long, so I am splitting it up into two parts. please review!**

* * *

Mai and the gang had just arrived at the hospital and walking through the doors, they spotted Lin paying for the hospital bill in _cash_.

"So he really is leaving. Is that okay?"

"The person himself decided it."

"Um, what about Xavier? Is she being released too?"

"Actually-"

Lin was immediately cut off by yells from down the hall. The group exchanged looks and unanimously decided to go take a look and see what was going on. Sneaking down the hall, past frantic nurses, they realized that the room where the commotion was coming from just so happened to be Xavier's.

"Well, this can't be good. Wonder what she's yelling about?"

Poking their heads in the door, they couldn't help but chuckled at Xavier's predicament. She was blushing like mad, surrounded by nurses and frantically yelling about how all she wanted was to be released.

"Why can't you just let me leave?"

"But you're such a cute guy! You can't leave!"

"I told you already, you girls are nice and all-"

"Kyah!"

"But I seriously just want you to get out so I can get dressed! And I'm not a gu-"

"We'll help you get dressed!"

"After all, it _is_ our job~!"

She groaned and held her extremely red face in her hands as the nurses chuckled and cooed, when she looked up and spotted the group in the door way. Practically jumping up from her hospital bed, she hurried over and glanced between her friends and the nurses.

"Thank God you guys are here. You've gotta help me! They. won't. _leave_!"

"What's wrong, Xavier? Don't like the attention?"

Monk was grinning as he teased her, but she was obviously less than pleased when she snapped at him and answered in a low growl, fist holding his collar.

"Does it _look_ like I enjoy attention?"

"No sir. I-I mean ma'am!"

"Good. Now get them out of here."

Monk and the rest of the group came in and tried to get them out. Monk tried his charm, but that only got them more excited. So Ayako pretended to be Xavier's lover and all that ended up doing was getting her angry when they said she was too old for Xavier. Mai seemed to be the only option left and when she politely asked them to leave, they either openly glared at her or just plain ignored her.

Xavier still wasn't feeling in tip top shape either and technically, she felt more like she was barely at 50% tops. Taking a seat, she desperately tried to relax a bit despite the chaos that was in her room with Ayako and the nurses yelling and Monk's chatter, but as the pain came back she practically collapsed in a nearby chair. It was then, that Lin decided to make himself known.

"That's enough. This is a hospital and your useless chatter is bothering everyone, especially Xavier. Leave. Now."

The nurses blushed and noticed just how bad Xavier looked, leaving with small muttered apologies as Mai knelt down to check on her.

"You okay?"

"Just a headache."

"Are you sure you should be getting released so soon, Xavier? If you still aren't feeling well, you can stay here. You don't have to force yourself."

She shook her head and slowly lifted it up to look at the concerned faces of the people she now called 'friends'.

"It's okay. I won't let a mere headache get the better of me. Besides, if I stay here those insane nurses will come back."

She paled, even more than she already was, and Monk clapped her on the back laughing with the others. It wasn't long though, before Xavier was dressed and joined them as they walked down the hall to Naru's room. Then, Mai realized something and she just had to ask.

"Hey, Xavier? How did you pay for your hospital bill?"

"Cash."

"What?"

The whole group was surprised at this. They all knew Xavier could barely afford an apartment, even with three jobs, so how was she able to pay her hospital bills in cash?

"Naru paid for my bill technically, but I'm going to take out the money from my account and pay him back. I keep an offshore account with a good amount of cash just in case something like this happens. Other than that, it stays untouched."

The group was still surprised, but they didn't have long to think about it as they'd just entered Naru's room. Xavier took her time relaxing on his bed, despite the mean look he was giving her, and everyone else just began trying to get his things packed up. Mai was just standing though, thinking about different things such as Naru's family, when her eyes landed on Xavier. _Her and Naru were the only ones who's family didn't visit. I know she doesn't have any living family, but I wonder if she's ever had anything close to it. Come to think of it…No matter how I look at it, we've all become a little family ourselves. Monk the father, Ayako the mother, Masako and I the daughters, with Lin an uncle who's difficult to get along with. John would be the eldest son and Yasuhara the second son. Then Naru…he's the selfish, youngest child and Xavier's like the rebellious middle child. What a funny family._

"Hey, hey, stop laughing and get back to work. Here, put this in the car for me."

Monk knocked Mai on the head and handed her a bag as she struggled to stop laughing, a small tear coming to eye.

"Sure papa."

"Huh?"

"Nothing~"

She smiled and left the room to put the bag into the car, leaving everyone else in the room to wonder just what was on her mind that was making her laugh like that. Aside from Lin who didn't care, Naru who was too busy doing work to care, and Xavier who had fallen asleep during the chaos.

* * *

I had an extremely nasty headache the next day, and wasn't quite able to get out of bed early enough to say my farewell to the Yoshimi family. It was nice for the most part after that though, when we were separated into our respectful vehicles. It was after that when things got a bit crazy, all thanks to Masako.

"My car can only fit five of us, so two of you guys will have to ride in Lin's car."

That's what Monk said and I was thinking about volunteering myself, just so I could sleep in the back without hearing Ayako and Mai yelling, but Yasuhara had other plans.

"Xavier and I are going in Monk's car!"

He grabbed my waist and rested his head on my shoulder. Knowing I couldn't have argued with him, I just stared into space and leaned my head on his with a yawn. Looking at the others, I noticed Mai seemed to consider volunteering but she was a bit slow and Naru chose who he was going to ride with.

"Isn't Hara and John riding with us?"

I knew right then and there that our ride was going to be less that peaceful, especially since Naru seemed to have chosen the two calm and quiet people. Currently, Ayako was sitting next to Monk and yelling her head off, making my headache worse.

"That Masako! She just had to show that she's 'special' on her face! And that Naru being Naru, why does he only listen to Masako?"

"She's already in the other car, so there's no point in regretting it now."

The look on Mai's face told me she wasn't too happy with the arrangements either. She seemed least concerned with Masako and Naru, and more concerned with how loud it was in the car at the moment.

"Her already being in the other car isn't the problem here!"

"The only one who thinks she's special is Masako herself. She's not the prettiest girl here."

"That's right!"

"Hey, hey, stop gossiping."

I felt Yasu chuckle a bit as he looked over at me, ignoring the fact that his arm hadn't moved from my waist this whole time, and I could barely stand the growing headache.

"Ayako, don't you think maybe, _just maybe_, Naru chose Masako and John because they were the quietest in our group and he just didn't want to hear you shouting every two seconds?"

"Why you-You're just upset that you can't be the lazy bum you normally are!"

"No. I'm upset because I'm still not even close to being 100% better and your damn yelling is beginning to piss me off and making my headache a billion times worse than it should be!"

I was beyond angry; the combination of the headache and the pain medication they'd given me throwing my emotions into turmoil. I pulled a hand through my already messed up hair as I felt Yasu's thumb brushing the back of my hand in comfort, trying to calm me down before I made myself feel any worse.

"Sorry. I suppose I should be a bit more considerate since you just got out of the hospital and all."

I looked up an Ayako and waved my free hand back and forth.

"It's okay. I'm just…having a harder time controlling myself what with the headache, the medication, my jobs, my apartment, and not being able to do much of anything for the past couple days."

"What happened to your apartment?"

Leaning my head against Yasu's shoulder, I closed my eyes and answered Mai's question, hoping to get some sleep before it got loud again.

"Lost all my jobs again, and without them I couldn't pay off rent so I'm stuck trying to figure something out when I get back since I'm still not going to be able to work until I'm feeling better."

"Oh…"

I heard her disappointment and leaned more into Yasu, who began brushing a hand through my hair softly. We'd gotten a lot closer since my near death situation and he seemed to have a calming effect on me, almost instantly putting me to sleep.

* * *

Yasuhara chuckled a bit, gaining Ayako, Mai, and Monk's attention. All of them glanced back to find Xavier sound asleep against Yasuhara and all of them gave small smiles.

"She went out quick, didn't she?"

Monk laughed and returned his eyes to the road in front of him as they all began to speak softly, so as to not wake her up.

"Yeah. She's been really tense lately and she's told me once before that I seem to always get her to relax, so I'm not surprised."

They all agreed, but Mai looked a bit concerned about something she noticed when Xavier was speaking earlier.

"She looked really sad earlier, after she'd gotten angry. Do you know why Yasuhara?"

He put a hand up to his chin in thought, glancing up at the ceiling as though it held all the answers.

"Well, she seems to be a very active person and because of what's happened, I'm assuming that she feels trapped and unable to do anything, which makes her angry and upset. Having spent so much of her life moving around and doing things, sitting around doing nothing is really starting to get to her. It's like taking cigarettes from a chain smoker. She's going through withdrawals and has no way of dealing with those emotions. Especially since she tries to keep everything to herself."

"Wow. She really has a lot to deal with."

"Yup, but she's my little trooper, so she'll be okay."

"I'm not a trooper…" They all froze, thinking they'd woken her up, but Yasuhara seemed pretty calm. "I'm a kick butt ninja…"

Yasuhara laughed, as Xavier scrunched up her face and hugged him, snuggling closer to him in an uncharacteristic fashion. The others relaxed and gave small laughs as well, before Ayako began bugging Monk about his driving. _This is going to be a long ride._

* * *

According to Mai, we'd gotten lost and had taken a wrong turn at some point in our journey. I didn't really care, seeing how I was still tired and had just woken up by slamming my head into the car window. Apparently, I wasn't the only one and Ayako was not very happy.

"What on Earth were you doing? Idiot!"

"I couldn't help it. The car in front just stopped!"

"Yasu, we lost again?"

"No, I don't think so."

I nodded, rubbing my forehead slightly when a shiver raced up my spine. Something was up and I didn't like it. I covered my eyes with my hand, rubbing my temples when I was attacked with sudden flashes; a car, a body, a woman, and water. I felt sick, so I opened the door and stumbled over to the railing on the side of the road while trying to catch my breath. Someone else joined me and leaned on his arms over the railing to my left. It was Naru and when I looked at him, I suddenly felt like I was drowning.

Water, endless water filled my lungs as I was being crushed by the pressure. I couldn't do anything; couldn't move, couldn't breath, couldn't think. Then, I was coughing. Mai was holding me looking deathly scared as I regained what breath I'd lost.

"Finally, I've found it."

"I…noticed."

He looked down at me almost surprised that I was there, kneeling down next to me with a glare. Mai was nervously staring between us, trying to figure out what was going on, but I told her to go back to the car. Reluctantly, she left and I turned back around to Naru as Lin stood over us.

"What did you see?"

He was angry, I could feel that. Angry of what though, I was unsure.

"Just flashes. A car, a body, a woman, and water. Then I felt like…like I was drowning. Suffocating."

"Don't tell the others."

He stood up and turned back around to head toward his car, but I interrupted.

"Your leaving…Aren't you?"

He froze mid-stride, a glanced back at me with a monotone expression.

"Yes."

"That won't get rid of us, you know. We'll follow you. _She'll_ follow you."

He paused for a moment, before opening his door like nothing happened. He knew who I was talking about and I knew he couldn't continue to deny what he's felt for her. Brushing myself off, I returned to the car saying I was carsick to sooth their curiosity. Yasu knew it was more than that, but he stayed silent for my sake and it wasn't long before we stopped in the campsite by the lake.

"Hey, what's going on? I thought we were going back. Why are we stopping here? Is there something wrong?"

"I have some business to take care of here. Mai and the others should leave for Tokyo first. You're in the way here. Go back."

I felt the sharp edge in his voice and closed my eyes wondering why he continued to push everyone away from him. _Isn't that what I was doing also? Pushing everyone away for the sake of protecting them, but what's his reason?…It's the same, isn't it? He was pushy and arrogant constantly in order to not let us get attached. He knew he was going to leave and didn't want us to get hurt, so he pushed us away. Quite caring deep down, isn't he…_

"What?"

"Shut down…so you're closing your business?"

"Why?"

"Please explain to us!"

"Shibuya, are you going on summer vacation?"

"I'll listen to all your complaints, but can you quiet down first?"

I rolled my eyes and stole the keys from Monk, using them to open up the trunk and grab the duffle bag that held everything I owned within it. Tossing that over my shoulders, I dropped the keys back in his pocket and began walking away as they argued and questioned what they were going to do. It was then that Mai noticed me and yelled at my back.

"Xavier! W-What are you doing?"

"What's it look like? I'm putting my stuff in the cabin. It's not like I've got anywhere else to go, so I might as well stay here and help out."

"You'll be in the way, Xavier."

I turned around and smirked evilly at Naru.

"Need I mention that it's _your_ fault I have no where to go? Besides, you may actually need my help later on and I already told you…we'll follow you."

With that, I left them there and unloaded my stuff at the cabin after paying for my stay as well as Mai's. I'd been smart enough to pull some money out of my account when we left and I already knew Mai would stay. Sure enough, not moments later everyone showed up and the next morning all the girls were gathered in the kitchen.

"By the way, I'm not very good at cooking. Do you guys know how to cook?"

"Um, if it's simple stuff."

"I-I'm not very…"

Mai and Masako were hopeless causes, but it seemed I might be able to fix something up with Ayako.

"I can do it. Whatever you want to eat from American, Italian, Japanese, Chinese…I just need ingredients and Ayako to help out."

They all stared at me in shock with their mouths opened as I listed off my fingers the different style of food I could make. They finally composed themselves a bit when I stared at them for a while, and Mai was the first to stutter out a response.

"H-How do you know-"

"How to cook? Easy. I've lived by myself all the time and when I traveled I had to learn how to make food with what I had. Most of my martial arts teachers showed me how to cook different style of food as well. You learn to be independent when you're traveling the world alone."

I shrugged it off and Ayako grabbed a pen and notepad to write down the list of ingredients I needed. I sent Mai along to ask the boys what they wanted and to get them ready for the shopping trip. Using what little supplies we already had, I began cooking with Ayako while the boys went shopping.

"Hey, what're you doing? I thought we were having Italian?"

"We are. I just felt Lin would rather have something from his own country for once. Why? Do you want something else?"

"N-No! I just thought it was odd how you would go through all this trouble just for him. Especially since him and Naru didn't want us here and you're not feeling well."

I shrugged my shoulders and stirred the wonton noodles I brought from my apartment for Lin.

"They have their reasons and who am I to judge them for reasons I don't even know?"

The kitchen grew silent after that, but it didn't last long when Ayako spoke again.

"You really think about these things, don't you."

"Martial artists learn to look past the expected in order to counter any possible attacks. If I don't think about the things that happen around me, how am I going to be able to counter similar experiences in the future? Besides that, I've met so many different people in my life I've learned to not be prejudice. It's pointless to judge based of simple things like appearances anyway."

"Hehe, I've noticed. You're not exactly caring about your appearance."

"Hey, I am who I am. People don't like that, too bad."

Ayako smiled and laughed, clearly amused by my response, and we continued to get along. It was quite funny when the boys showed up to find the two of us in frilly aprons smiling and enjoying each other's company.

"Woah. Is it just me or did some sort of apocalypse happen when we were out?"

"Xavier~! You look so cute in that apron!"

Yasu grinned and I scowled back.

"There was nothing else to wear, so don't you think I enjoy it for a minute."

Of course, typical Yasu just laughed my comment off and I soon kicked everyone out as I finished up the rigatoni and chicken alfredo. Not much of a breakfast food, but I personally didn't care.

"Breakfast, lunch, dinner; they're all the same to me."

"Well, Naru and Lin said they don't need it."

I turned to Mai with an annoyed look and growled, ripping off my apron and tossing it on the counter. Grabbing their food, I turned to Mai in the doorway.

"You coming? Ayako, the food's pretty much done. You just have to set it out on the table."

"Okay!"

The two of us, Mai and I, headed out of the girls cabin and began walking and chatting along the way.

"Ayako said you made different food for Lin. What's you make?"

"Lin got wonton noodles with shrimp along with oolong tea and for desert he got a mooncake. Naru just got Italian like the rest of us with some of your tea."

"W-Why did Naru just have my tea? Shouldn't you have given him something else?"

I smiled and looked down at Mai.

"Simple. He wouldn't want _my _tea."

"Just make it as clear as day to me."

Mai and I both glanced up and saw Monk and Naru discussing something on the porch.

"I don't have any free time."

"So you'll go along with everyone's agreement?"

"I don't think I'm in agreement."

"Now look here."

Monk was about to continue, but the two of them spotted Mai and I. I wasn't nervous at all, but Mai seemed to be a bit awkward about listening in on their conversation.

"Um, is there a problem?"

"No, what is it?"

"Nothing much Monk. Just breakfast…lunch…brunch? Ah, whatever. It's chicken alfredo and rigatoni. Better hurry or Yasu will eat it all."

"What? Mai, let's go back together!"

He grabbed Mai and walked off while I stepped up onto the porch with the food. Naru reached out to take it from me, but I pulled it back with a frown.

"Not quite, Naru. We need to talk."

"I have no obligation to speak with you, Xavier."

"Oh, I think you do if I'm going to be helping you at all."

He scowled and was about to say something, but we were interrupted by Lin.

"Naru, it seems like it'll take the other party two or three days to depart. I contacted the trader and told him we needed the divers urgently, so they should be here by this evening…Xavier, I suggest you leave. We're a bit busy."

"I know."

He gave me a confused and slightly angered look, but Naru allowed me to come inside with Lin. We all sat down and I gave them their food, surprise flitting across their faces when they saw what I gave them.

"Chinese food?"

"Yep and I hope you enjoy your food, everyone else got Italian."

"What is it you wanted to talk about, Xavier? I don't have all day to sit around and speak with you."

"Of course. I simply wanted to know what I'm getting myself into. I'm guessing it has something to do with your twin brother?"

They both stopped what they were doing, tense, wide eyed, and deadly serious.

"How much do you know?"

"Not much. I know he's showed up multiple times in my visions as well as Mai's and I know you're identical twins, but your personalities are total opposites. That, and he was in a car accident of some sort before being tossed in, what I assume is the lake nearby. Therefore, before I go trying to help you, I wish to know just a bit more."

Lin glared at me and turned back to his computer while Naru stayed straight faced and sipped at his tea. Normally, I could handle tension like this quite well, but my pain meds were beginning to wear off and I hadn't yet eaten since we'd left the hospital the day before. Just as I opened my mouth to badger him a bit more, he spoke in a dismissing tone.

"There's nothing more that you need to know. If you think your help is going to somehow _blackmail _me into giving you information, you are sorely mistaken. I do not need your help if you are not willing to offer it."

The way he said 'blackmail' had my mind racing at a mile a minute. _Why did he say it like that? He obviously dislikes the word in general, but the way he said it with such distaste…_

"You're being blackmailed."

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly and I knew I hit the nail on it's head.

"I never said that."

"No. I did. So who is it?"

He stayed quiet and opted for the silent treatment so I began to speak my mind.

"Let's see. Can't be Monk or Ayako, they're a bit thick headed and would gossip about it if they did. It's not John, he's not brave enough to threaten you. Mai's a good choice, but she's also a bit thick headed and I doubt she would've figured out something like that. It could be Yasu, but there's also…_Masako_."

I smirked when I noticed Lin's typing falter and Naru made it look like he was drinking his tea when he wasn't.

"It makes sense, now that I think about it. You always treat her special but keep your eyes closed off and distant. You never argue against her, but the look on your face when she clings to you-"

"Get out."

I smiled sadly and shook my head.

"If that's what you want. We all have our secrets and our own reasons to keep them but, you better be careful. They'll all find out sooner or later and my bets are on sooner."

I stood up, not bothering to collect the dishes since they hadn't touched the food yet and walked out the door. I started walking back down the trail to the cabin, but purposely side tracked and leaned against a tree facing the lake. With a sigh, I frowned and sat on the ground, watching the sun glisten off the water.

"You happy now, Gene? You should know that that's not the best way to make friends with him. I feel like I threatened him…like a bank robber. 'Stop there! Give me the information or I'll blow your brains out!'…I'm not good at this kind of stuff. You better hope those two figure it out, or I'm going to be haunting _you _in the afterlife."

I heard a chuckle from seemingly nowhere and rolled my eyes before getting up and walking back towards the cabin to see if I could scrape up and left over food. _Let's hope Yasu saved me some._

* * *

"This place looks like a dump. Any chance I can go back to the cabin and sleep? It's too early."

I clung to Yasu like a pillow and yawned loudly to prove how tired I was, but winced when a sharp pain sliced through my head. Yasu noticed and narrowed his eyes in concern.

"Xavier-"

"It's just a headache. _Another_ one. I swear whatever those crack pot doctors gave me for pain meds isn't working."

His expression softened a bit and he hugged me closer as we turned to look back at the school we were investigating for some old men. They were pretty suspicious if you ask me. No one even knew we were a psychic group staying here in the mountains, but these guys knew exactly who to find for their little ghost problem. I'm even more surprised that Naru even accepted this case since he's supposed to be searching for his brothers' corpse.

I spotted Mai and Masako arguing about something, when Naru called her over to the van to start pulling out equipment.

"Put the sound concentrating microphones around the outside of the building. After that, we need to gather information on the activity using cameras, so find places for them. _No one _is allowed to enter the building."

I saw him glare at me when he said that, as though he assumed I'd be the first person in the building. Either that, or he was just pissed off about our discussion earlier. Yasu and I picked up an equipment box of our own and headed around the building with Mai and Monk, setting up microphones along the way.

"Hey, Xavier?"

"Hm."

"You and Naru get in a fight or something? He keeps glaring at you."

I shrugged and set the box I was carrying down as Monk set up another microphone.

"I seemed to have learned something I shouldn't have and when I brought it up to him, he wasn't very happy about it."

Him and Yasu gave each other a look and I felt that I was being left out of something until Monk turned back to the windows.

"Hey Mai, the mike can't get through."

"None of the glass windows are broken, huh."

"Ah, I'll do it."

I leaned against the fence nearby and watched with a smirk as Mai picked up a rock and threw it at the window. A small 'thud' was heard when she missed completely, hitting the exterior of the building.

"Strike one."

Yasu and Monk smiled, sitting down on the small concrete ledge as they began narrating Mai's throwing skills with the microphones.

"What do you think about today's pitching, Takigawa?"

"It's hopeless, probably. Shoulder strength has to come into the equation."

"I see…Oh, it's the second pitch!"

There was a 'clunk' and the rock fell harmlessly to the ground after hitting the side of the building again.

"Another ball!"

"Let's watch the third pitch."

She threw another rock and missed, getting frustrated with herself as well as the comedic duo behind her. It was my turn. Placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down a bit, I whispered in her ear.

"You're doing it wrong."

Walking over to the window I rolled my shoulders and neck like a pro, pulled my hand back, and put a rock right through the glass pane with a shatter. Immediately, Monk and Yasu started sheering into their microphone and I laughed a little at their antics.

"Her certain-kill technique explodes! It's the end for the glass, as it tumbles to the ground!"

"This is the result of the so-called iron fist grudge of wrath!"

"Too bad though. 'Bomber' Taniyama didn't stand a chance against the skills of a pro!"

"Who's 'Bomber' Taniyama?"

Mai began harassing them and I just shook my head and picked up some cinder blocks to hold the microphone in place. When I finished, I picked back up my box and began walking next to Yasu and over towards Monk, who was just staring up at the school.

"What's up, Monk?"

"Did you find something?"

"Huh? Oh, no. It's just feels kind of nostalgic somehow…A deserted wooden school building, I mean."

Mai seemed to know what Monk was saying, but Yasu and I just glanced at each other, a bit lost. Nudging him with my shoulder, I tilted my head towards Mai to inform him that it was his turn to ask questions. Clearing his throat, he asked Mai what they were talking about.

"Actually, the first investigation we all did together was in a school building like this. Back then, everyone was fighting with each other about what was actually happening in the building."

She kind of trailed off a bit and we all grew silent until Yasu broke the ice again.

"Taniyama, do you feel something here?"

"Hm? It's creepy, but I don't feel anything."

"What about you, Xavier?"

I tilted my head to the side and brought a hand up to my chin in thought. When I focused on what I _thought _I was feeling, my head ached and pounded at my temples. It hurt quite a bit and I growled low in my throat, pinching the bridge of my nose in an attempt to ease the pain. A hand touched my shoulder and I flinched, seeing Yasu looking concerned again.

"You okay? You don't have to force yourself."

"Yeah. It's just…I can feel _something_, but the moment I go to focus in on it my headache returns ten-fold."

He nodded and turned back to Monk after sitting me down on the concrete. They began talking about whether or not Monk could sense spirits and then they switched over to secrets. My headache was really beginning to bother me and I had firmly grasped both sides of my head, gritting my teeth against the pain, when something they said caught my attention.

"John isn't an exorcist..." _They found out? Seems Monk's more perceptive than I originally thought. _"He's doing all the exorcisms, but there's not reason anybody else can't do it. If he is a Catholic right now, there are various puzzling things about him. He seems quite knowledgeable, though. For instance, it's impossible to be a catholic priest without already being a minister."

"But he's a priest, isn't he?"

I saw Mai give me a glance and Monk followed it, smirking a little bit probably thinking he could get some info out of me.

"If he is, he's abnormally young. Also, exorcisms are not performed without the permission of higher church authorities. Furthermore, it is necessary to perform a fast before an exorcism."

I could feel their stare burning into me, but I just closed my eyes and tried to squeeze my headache away. It wasn't working.

"If I'm not mistaken, a catholic priest must be in the church. So then, in addition to not having permission, when repeatedly performing exorcisms that are unprofessional, excommunication can become a serious possibility. I wonder what's going on with him."

"When did you find all this out, Monk?"

He smirked at me and I frowned, knowing that he was waiting for me to speak.

"I knew this from the start. Naru knows about it too. He mentioned that John seemed too young to be an exorcist. Do you have something you want to tell us about him, Xavier?"

Pulling my hands away from my head, I looked down at them and scowled.

"It's my fault." They seemed surprised there and encouraged me to continue, but I couldn't do that to John. "I can't tell you more than that. He has his secrets and you have yours so I suggest you drop it before I go snooping around your life. You wouldn't want that to happen. Trust me. If I can find out things about Naru, imaging what I can discover about you, _Monk._"

He flinched under my gaze and I just stood up and walked away. My headache was horrid and I began stumbling over to where we were setting up base outside, only to bump into Naru. He glared at me, but I didn't have the energy to deal with him at the moment and-_Whoops. Looks like I have no energy at all._ I fell to the ground and Naru's voice was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

* * *

"Woah. What happened here?"

Monk blinked with wide eyes as Yasuhara hurried around him and kneeled over Xavier. Naru didn't even look in his direction and just continued to look over the case file.

"She fainted. I have no idea what happened other than that, unless you have an idea why."

"When did she pass out?"

Naru sighed and closed the file, looking over at Yasuhara and Xavier.

"Not long after Ayako and Masako returned and a little after I sent you three to set up the microphones. My guess is it's stress related. She should not have left the hospital early it seems."

Yasuhara scowled and adjusted the wet cloth on her forehead before looking at Monk with a sadistic smile on his face. Monk winced and took a step back, afraid of the protective boyfriend as he stood up.

"Takigawa, you shouldn't have teased her earlier when she had a headache. Don't you think?"

"I-I suppose it was a bad idea."

"Headache?" They turned back around to Naru. "How long has this persisted?"

Releasing Monk from his deadly smile, Yasuhara thought about it for a second.

"Well, she complained about one when we left the hospital, but it supposedly went away until we showed up here. Then, it seemed to have gotten worse. She was saying how her pain medication didn't seem to be working earlier this morning and she looked in pain not too long ago."

Naru looked down with his eyebrows furrowed and a hand to his chin. He finally brought his hand down and glanced at Xavier as her face scrunched up in pain.

"Hm. It's possible that her headache could have something to do with this school. There may be something here after all."

He turned back to his work as Masako began handing out tea to everyone who wanted it. She handed the cups over and Monk was the first to notice the new cups. Everyone had a different design on their cup. For instance, Monk had a triceratops; Mai a frog; Naru's had two foxes; Lin's had a couple of bulls; Yasuhara a couple of crabs; John's a group of penguins, and Xavier's had a sleeping cat. Everyone was enjoying them, for the most part, when the wind began to pick up and the group split up to take care of different things. It wasn't long before the wind brought rain and Naru sent Mai and John to check the microphones.

"What about Xavier?"

"We'll take care of her. Just hurry up and check the microphones, Mai!"

"Gotcha!"

* * *

I could hear children, laughing and chuckling; each sound making my head throb more. Yet, all around me there was nothing but darkness. I could feel myself looking around, but I couldn't even see my own body and the laughter was beginning to make the pain almost unbearable.

_Stop it. Stop laughing! It hurts! Can't you understand that?_

The laughing suddenly stopped and there was a figure standing in the inky blackness; its electric blue eyes glowing. It walked closer towards me and knelt down to my level, holding a hand out to me with a devilish grin. My mind told me to reject its hand, but I took it and was helped to my feet.

"_Surely you haven't become so weak as too forget about me, child? I am a part of you as much as you are a part of me. Therefore, you should know better than to try and reject me."_

_Reject? I wasn't rejecting anyone._ I felt myself frown in confusion at what this creature in front of me was saying when four more images appeared in different areas around us. One a large black hound, growling and gnashing it's teeth together as chains held it back. Another, masked man stood wearing a frown as he stared around the black abyss; chains around his ankles. The third was a young boy with a noose around his neck, crying in a corner while the last was a general, cackling insanely despite the straight jacket way his uniform was worn around him. The only thing that hadn't shown itself was the creature who'd been speaking to me; the only thing visible being his eyes and the whiteness of his teeth.

"_Ah, but you are rejecting me. As unlikely as it seems…and by rejecting me, you are rejecting them. You do that and the pain will only increase until death is all that awaits you."_

_Death? But what about the laughter? It's not the general's. It sounds more like a group of children._

"_It is, but you won't be able to help your friends at this point until you stop rejecting what is now a part of you."_

_How? How do I stop?_ I gasped as the pain increased and the creature walked closer and revealed himself. He had a sharp angular face with pale skin that complimented his every feature. His black hair was short cut and had feathers, ranging from a dull grey to a vivid brown, placed strategically in it. He practically wore the darkness around us and it swayed to his every step; clinging to every contour. What skin I could see what muscular and taut, rippling as he pulled me closer to him. His nails on one hand trailed down my tattooed arm while the other hand cupped the side of my face.

"_You should know, child, that what I do next will cause quite a bit of pain."_

_But will it make me stop? Will it stop the headaches…save them?_

I gestured to the chained figures around us and the man in front of me chuckled deeply.

"_Absolutely. After all…I wouldn't lie to my precious vessel."_

I was about to say something when pain flooded my senses. Fire filled my lungs instead of air. Lava ran through my veins replacing blood and the man in front of me pinned me to the ground as his hand slowly plunged into my chest. I was struggling, screaming, as his had impaled my heart and his canines bit deeply into my shoulder. Then, as quickly as it came, the heat dissipated and my body ran cold. My vision began to fade and I tried to see the man, but all I could see what his glowing blue eyes.

"_Do not fight it. Your friends are concerned and you need to awaken."_

_Thank you…Andras…_

I woke up, unable to open my eyes at first and in immense pain. I realized I was wet, covered in water or sweat I couldn't tell. I could also tell that more than one person was holding me down at the moment as my breathing came out in short, fast gasps. Finally, I was able to open one eye against the pain radiating throughout my body.

"Get…off…"

My vision focused a bit and I was able to notice John, Lin, and Naru were the ones holding me down. They all released me, a bit reluctantly, and it wasn't long before Lin was checking my vital signs and Naru began asking questions, silencing the others.

"What the devil happened?"

"I-I'm not…sure. I had a headache and passed out…then…"

"Then?"

"Naru! She just woke up! After what just happened, you should be glad she's alive!"

I cocked my head to the side, regretting it immediately at the pain. I was going to ask what had happened that had her so concerned, but Naru glared. He wanted answers first it seems.

"T-Then I was in a dark space hearing laughter. Children's laughter. It hurt my head so I begged for it to stop and when it did, Andras was there. Only…I didn't recognize him. All I saw was his eyes, but I should've known it was him by his voice. Yet, I didn't.

Anyway…he told me I was rejecting him or something and the other spirits I've caught appeared, chained to the ground or bound. Andras told me I could save them if I stopped rejecting him, but it would hurt. I agreed and it felt like every particle in my body was burning. Andras, he stuck his hand into my chest and bit my shoulder and then the pain went away and I ended up back here. Awake."

Everyone was either shocked or deep in thought, but it didn't last when Naru asked me to show him my shoulder. I took off the wet jacket I was wearing and fidgeted as I debated on how to show them my shoulder.

"Just take it off."

"What?"

"Naru!"

"No, it's okay. I'll just cover myself."

I turned around and pulled off my shirt, before holding it to my chest. I had bandages on anyway, due to my previous injuries so I wasn't concerned about that. I was more concerned about where Yasu was and what he would think should he return and find me like this. I jumped when cold fingers lightly touched my shoulder, more shocked than pained.

"What?"

"The designs on your arm have changed and have gotten higher. I assume this is where he bit you?"

I felt a bit of pressure on a certain spot on my shoulder and I winced.

"Yeah. Could you not do that though? It hurts."

"Hm. You may replace your shirt…My guess is that, after you gave me some of your powers, you may have received some kind of backlash and your body went into a self-defense mode. From there, it tried to get rid of the demon you're housing which would explain the headaches. Andras merely reinstated the contract and added more seals, thus essentially hiding his presence from your body so you wouldn't be 'rejecting' him so to speak…but that is merely and educated assumption."

I nodded, exhausted from my body's internal battle but fighting to stay awake in order to hear what had happened while I was out.

"So what happened? How did we go from outside to in here?"

"W-Well, after you passed out it started to rain." John was speaking now, since it seems Naru didn't want to explain. "Monk, Masako, and Yasuhara went to go to the store and we came in here for shelter…but we've been locked in. The doors won't open and none of the windows will either. Lin even tried breaking the window with a chair, but there wasn't even a scratch."

"Okay. What about with me? Mai said something about dying."

John went silent at this and everyone seemed to fidget, aside from Naru and Lin. I was going to press for answers, but Lin spoke up.

"After we brought you in you began to have severe seizures and were screaming. We ended up having to restrain you at one point because you continued to seize and had begun clawing at your arm."

I looked down at my arm and noticed the small red scratches. They were not too bad though, since my jacket had been doing a decent job covering it. Nodding to myself, happy for some answers, I looked back at the group.

"So there's definitely something here then. Our best bet would be to wait until the others returned and keep them from closing the door. Or, if they can't even enter, we still have a chance to get food and water from holes in the glass. I'm assuming that you can still connect with the outside world that way. How long have they been gone? Do we know?"

Ayako pulled out her watch and checked the time before answering.

"Just a little over and hour."

"Then we'll just have to sit and wait. The most we could do would be to try and figure out what's causing this whole thing to begin with."

I heard a chuckled to my left and turned to glare at Mai as she tried to hide the fact that she was laughing. She caught my glare and began apologizing, barely able to control her laughter.

"S-Sorry. It's just…you sound so much like Naru!"

Hearing this, John and Ayako joined her and began laughing while Naru and I just took short glances at each other before turning away quickly. I did not take well to being compared to Naru, but I could see where they were coming from. Ever since I started being around them, I was coming a bit more out of my shell. Today just further proved that point seeing how I showed a small amount of my intelligent side. I noticed Naru looking around and he soon stood up, Lin following.

"For now, let's move these shoe shelves to barricade the corridor….And did someone bring something to write with?"

"I did."

Ayako seemed bored, but I could care less and I stood to help Lin, Naru, and John with the shoes shelves. Naru though, seemed to be lagging behind to answer Mai's questions and I rolled my eyes. _The guy has fell…hard._

When we finished setting up the mini maze of shoe shelves, I began helping to pull some boards apart for the fire. I still hurt, dreadfully so, but the headaches were gone and no one appeared to have notice the winces every time I moved my arm or shoulder.

"Xavier, do you two want something to drink?"

"You got coffee?"

"No. Just tea or water."

I frowned but accepted the tea, giving the sleeping cat on my cup a brief glance. _Seems they got new cups. I like mine._ I smirked against the rim of my cup and half-ignored the small conversation Mai was having about what the rooms in the school were used for. I noticed Ayako pull out her watch again to check the time, and when she mentioned the rest of our group was late, I frowned deeply.

"It could be because Yasuhara was going to see about gathering information, right? For all we know, they might not return until evening."

"No way! Weren't they going to bring us lunch?"

"Don't ask me."

I hummed to myself, not even realizing that I'd done it out loud until I noticed everyone staring at me.

"Oh, I did that out loud?"

"Yeah. Is something wrong?"

"It's just…I had an experience like this once before."

Mai seemed really interested to hear about one of my tales and even Naru was somewhat paying attention, so I continued.

"It was after I'd met you, John, and we'd gone our separate ways. I was staying at a place over in Singapore to learn capoeira and, by sheer coincidence, the flat that was being rented out to me was haunted. I had little kids freaking out anytime I even came out of the place, so I finally asked one of them and he said that there was a ghost there who chased everyone out or killed them."

I heard Mai gasp and I smirked while shrugging my aching shoulders.

"I didn't really care, being who I am, but one day it started to pour. I thought it was because it was the wet season and decided to stay inside until it let up. The spirit haunting the place a was young boy who hung himself due to some severe bullying and parental abuse. After I had him taken care of, the moment I walked out of the house the neighborhood kids thought I was a ghost since they hadn't seen me for so long. Turns out, I was in there for a couple of weeks while thinking it was only a few days. The ghost kid had died during the rainy season apparently and had gone unnoticed for weeks until the landlord came by for the rent and found him."

"Woah…poor kid, but what does this have to do with-"

"Mai, Mai."

I shook my head and Naru scoffed, obviously understanding the purpose of the story.

"What?"

"The time, Mai. Time is the key here." She still looked lost so I explained. "To us, right now, it's been hours since Monk and the others left. Suppose though, that whoever is haunting this place has put us in…their own dimension, for lack of better words. Monk and the others could have only been gone for minutes. I believe that this school is in it's own time of space at the moment. Time may be moving different while we're trapped in here. Do you understand now?"

She nodded and Naru went of on some tangent about the old men who gave us this stupid case to begin with, while I just decided to lay back and try to rest my painful body. Unfortunately, my back collided with John's chest and I blushed a bit at the one short awkward moment. Monk had told me in the hospital to try and keep my public affections on the down-low after he indirectly informed me of John's feelings. So, I was a bit uncomfortable and quickly sat up with a wince.

"S-Sorry John. Didn't know you were back there."

"It's okay. A-Actually, I was going to ask if you…"

"If I what?"

"You know. Since it looked like you were hurting earlier I-I was just wondering if…"

"John?"

"If you wanted a massage."

I was a bit taken aback by this, not expecting him to ask something like that, but it did sound nice. So I agreed and he began working out the kinks in my shoulders and neck, which were extremely tense after the whole Andras thing. My body immediately began to relax, but it was short lived when Naru stood up once again.

"Shall we take a look inside? We should all go."

"Eh? Shouldn't someone stay here to stand guard?"

"Normally that would be a good precaution, but absolutely no one should be left here alone."

I didn't like the vibe I got from that, but reluctantly got up with John. _He knows something that he isn't telling us. Something about this place. It's as though he's just letting us figure this bit by bit out on our own until he discovers a way to solve it…but what is it that he knows?_ I thought about it for a while as we walked into room after room. Every room we went to wasn't suspicious or anything, but it gave off a lonely feel and the way everything was just left around was odd.

We went into yet another room and this one immediately gave me chills. Looking around, I spotted several tanks plugged into the wall as well as a small box in the corner of the room. The others had all stepped in a bit further and just as I was about to, something bumped my leg causing me to jump.

There at my feet was a small shaggy blonde puppy with huge brown eyes and a red collar. He tilted his head to the side and yipped happily. Bending down to pet him, I noticed no one else had noticed the small dog and I was curious as to what this dog wanted to show me. It ran around in a circle and hurriedly ran over to the tanks where Mai and Ayako were at, so I followed. When I got there, I saw fish floating above the tanks and I held out my hand as the twisted in and out of my fingers.

"Xavier?"

"Hm."

"What are you doing?"

I tilted my head to look at her and simply replied.

"Playing with the fish."

Her, Ayako, Naru, and Lin gave me an odd look when the puppy at my heels barked and ran over to where John was kneeling down to a small cardboard box. I watched the puppy as it gazed at the box with sad eyes before looking back up at me and whimpering. I started heading over there just as John called Naru over as well.

"What the heck? A pile of fur and a blanket?"

I knelt down to the box and frowned as I glanced at the poor puppy next to me. The thing looked about ready to burst into tears so I calmly reached out and scratched it behind the ears as Naru pulled out a red collar from the pile of fur.

"A collar?"

"A dog, huh? I wonder what happened."

"It's actually a puppy. A small, blonde, shaggy cockapoo puppy with big brown eyes…and he died. He was left behind."

"W-What? How do you know all that?"

I raised an eyebrow at her and continued to pet the small dog beside me; the group finally noticed my hand petting, what appeared to be, thin air.

"He's here?"

"Yup. I don't know why he's only showing himself to me, but he seems to have wanted me to know he was here. Maybe he has something to show me later. I don't know, but this school didn't close down. Everyone just up and vanished. Otherwise him and the fish would've been taken care of."

I shrugged and gave out a yawn before we left this room and headed to another classroom. This one seemed normal enough, but the puppy hand a different idea and ran over to one of the desks and pulled out a book. It clattered to the ground and the group looked at me.

"Hey, don't look at me. The puppy did that on its own."

They turned back to the fallen book and Naru picked it up. It wasn't long before everyone else pulled out things from the desks and confirmed my theory about everyone disappearing. Judging from the date written on the board and a journal entry, we confirmed that something killed off the students here during their field trip. As they went on to discuss that, I noticed that the puppy's tail started wagging and it barked up at the ceiling before dashing down the hall.

"Uh, guys? The dog just dashed out the room."

"Wha-"

A shiver racked my form and I could hear the children laughing as the ceiling boards creaked and groaned. The group soon headed towards the second floor and I noticed the puppy in front of the barriers, pacing. Mai and the others gave me a look when I picked him up, but I answered before they could ask any questions.

"He couldn't get past the barriers. Looks like they're working."

A few of them nodded while the others ignored me, but when we reached the small child like door we were forced to split up. Lin was the first through the door and as Mai and I watched him head up the stairs and around the corner, the puppy whimpered and jumped after him.

"Ah!"

I reached out towards the dog, but at that exact moment loud banging was heard and Mai and I were shoved into a nearby wall. Footsteps and laughter followed and I cringed at the memory of those laughs when pain shot through my leg. Seemed one of the shoe shelves had fallen over and landed on my ankle. _Lucky me._ I shoved it off and it wasn't long before the laughing stopped and Mai began freaking out about Lin. She slammed the small door open and began shouting to him, but all we heard was silence even when Naru tried. Him and John quickly began the trek up the stairs to search and I stood up, hiding a limp to follow.

"I'm going up to look."

"You three shouldn't stay here by yourselves. Let's all go."

"But the door-"

"Forget about it."

Naru's answer was very clipped and short, filled with authority, but I knew that he was really concerned for Lin. Walking past Mai, I patted her on the shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"Lin will be fine and, if anything, worry more about Naru. He's not expressing it well, but he's more concerned than anyone."

She nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself down a bit and I walked ahead with a smile. _Good job Mai. Be strong for him._

* * *

After searching for Lin for a while, we stopped and just hope that he'd be okay. _Which he should, now that I think about it. He does have his shiki._ I sighed, reaching down to rub my twisted ankle as I leaned against the wall nearby. I was trying to keep my weight off of it, but it was hard to do that without the others noticing. Suddenly, Mai and Ayako got excited.

"It's Monk and the others!"

"Alright! We can get them to open the door from the outside!"

I paled and scrambled off the wall, hurrying towards the stairs while ignoring the looks they sent me. The others must have figured it out though, because Naru was soon running at my side. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to keep from showing my pain when the two of us reached the small door leading to the other area. Mai joined us as we realized it wasn't opening and I told Naru to move. He did so and I stood, kicking the door solidly and knocking it out of the way before climbing through with the others. Looking up, I shouted to Monk and scrambled toward the door.

"Monk! The door!"

He looked confused as I ran past him and began struggling with the door. Cursing under my breath, I took a step back and kicked the door as best as I could. Nothing.

"Dammit!"

I pulled back my arm to punch the glass, out of pure frustration, but someone grabbed my arm and waist and pulled me away from the door. I struggled against them until a familiar scent hit my nose and something soft moved against my neck.

"Calm down, Xavier."

_Yasu._ I relaxed and he just held me there as Mai took her time freaking out.

"It won't open, we're locked in! We can't get out of here! The windows won't open and the glass won't break!"

"Well, that really is a problem isn't it?"

I groaned at Monk's insensitivity as Yasu hugged me closer, kissing me on the neck once before resting his chin on my shoulder. Just then, I took a head count and cursed.

"What?"

"Ayako's gone."

"Ayako…No…No way, when did…"

I looked at Mai as her and John stared back up the stairs. The two of them began blaming themselves for what happened, so I got Yasu to release me before walking over there and hitting them both upside the head.

"You idiots. Don't go blaming yourself for something that probably would've happened sooner or later."

Mai looked at me absolutely heartbroken while Monk just shook his head with a smile.

"I think what she's trying to say is, it's okay to regret things but isn't it better to do something about it? Looking for Ayako is first priority, right?"

"Yeah."

"What should we do, Naru? Should we start with the first floor or the second floor?"

"I'm not sure."

I frowned to myself quizzically. _Naru not knowing what to do? That's a first._ Naru, Mai, and Monk went off to search and I started to as well, but I took a wrong step and nearly crumbled to the ground if not for Yasu catching me around the waist.

"Ah~ Xavier!~ You've been trying to hide things from me again, haven't you?"

"U-Um…no?"

I smiled crookedly and knew I was in for a scolding as he set me down on the ground and shooed the others off. I heard muffled snickering from my left and glared at Masako, as she covered her mouth with her kimono sleeve.

"Shut up, Masako."

She just continued to laugh quietly behind her sleeve and when I went to get angry at her, I let out a yelp instead as Yasu grabbed a hold of my ankle.

"Y-Yasu!"

"When were you going to tell me about this, Xavier?" I didn't answer and just stared at the ground as he continued to scold me. "It's really swollen and you shouldn't have been kicking down doors with it. Are you stupid? You've probably broken it at this point!"

I hissed in pain as he began rotating it and put slight pressure on it to check for broken bones. He sighed and reached into one of the bags he had, pulling out a medium sized first aid kit.

"You're lucky I thought of picking one of these up at the store. You really are quite accident prone."

"Y-Yeah. I think it might have to do with Andras, but I've always gotten into…_painful _situations."

He smirked and patted my now bandaged ankle, as revenge for not telling him most likely, before he scooted closer to me. I didn't mind, still being a bit wet and cold from the downpour outside, and snuggled closer to him. I saw Masako roll her eyes and couldn't help but tease her a bit.

"What's wrong, Masako? Wish you could do this to Naru?"

She turned around just as I gave Yasu a quick peck on the lips, and she blushed brighter than a tomato. I laughed at her, until I was pushed to the ground and he kissed me back. Blushing bright red, I stared at him open-mouthed in confusion.

"It's not nice to tease, Xavier~"

I covered my face with my hand, but he pulled it away and kissed me again just as we heard a cough from beside us. It seems the others had returned from their search and were expressing their various forms of shock at our precarious position.

"Hehe, did we interrupt something?"

"Yes you did. Maybe you could go back to searching and take Masako with you, so we could get back to what we were doing, Monk. Unless you want to join us?"

My blush grew at Yasu's words and Monk paled before Yasu laughed and helped me sit up. Naru was not impressed in any way and I lightly punched Yasu in the shoulder for screwing with Monk and the others.

"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't help it~ It's just too hard to keep my hands off you."

"Yasu!"

He just laughed again and I groaned in embarrassment, shoving my head on his lap so I could get some more sleep. They were too busy explaining what happened to Yasu, Monk, and Masako anyway so why not. Of course, my sleep didn't last long and my curiosity about what they were saying had me sitting upright.

"So you're saying that the students here were killed by a landslide on their way to a school field trip. Then, kids started disappearing and their corpses showed up here up until four years ago, but the town doesn't want outsiders to know about it so we were sent here to pretty much be experiments in order to either find out what is really going on or to disappear like everyone else?"

"That's a summarized version, but yes."

"So you're thinking that the other corpses that haven't been found are still here."

I nodded, a hand to my chin in a thinking pose when Mai jumped up and Monk questioned what I had said.

"If there were corpses here, there's no way we'd miss the smell. We've patrolled throughout the entire inside of the building, right? We would've discovered them a long time ago if they were here, unfortunately."

I began thinking about what Monk had said and frowned. _Where could the corpses be hidden at? We've searched everywhere in the school and haven't smelt anything, so they must be somewhere where the smell can't escape. A hidden room maybe? But where would it be? All the outside dimensions of the school seem correct with the inside, and no normal school would be built with a hidden room, so…in the walls? No…the ceiling!_

"Xavier, are you coming?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah."

I struggled, but stood with Yasu's help and we began to search the rooms again. I wasn't in the right shape to actually walk around and search, so I stood by the doorway and looked at the ceiling panels for anything odd. It was just a hunch, but I had a bad feeling that my hunch was going to prove correct.

"Hey, so what happened to you?"

I turned my gaze away from the ceiling and gave Monk an curious look.

"When Lin disappeared Mai and I were shoved back and a shoe shelf fell on my ankle. That, combined with stairs, running, and kicking down doors kind of made it worse."

"Oh…What about earlier? Seems you and Yasuhara were having some fun while we were gone~"

He wiggled his eyebrows and I flushed.

"I was just teasing Masako and…Yasu-"

"Monk, are you harassing my girlfriend?"

Monk paled and turned around to see Yasu's smiling face, stuttering nonsense.

"U-Uh…well y-you see…"

"It's okay, Monk. I understand."

"Y-You do?"

"Of course! You and I…we were something special and now that that has been taken away from you, you have no one else to turn to. So, I've decided to help you out. I suggest you go after Naru. He seems like a good type for you, what with your S&M fetish~"

I struggled to hold in my laughter and Monk fell to the ground exasperated, holding his head and mumbling about the two of us 'picking on a poor old man's mind'.

"Will you three stop messing around? We need to go to the next room."

We stopped at Naru's order and I couldn't help but think he sounded like the nagging boss I had at one of my jobs. Shaking my head out of my thoughts, I looked around the next room and spotted, to my horror, a section of ceiling panels that were stained and covered in dark beetles. Grabbing a broom, I limped over to it and called Naru over.

"What is it?"

"I think I may have found what you're looking for. I just suggest you get the weaker stomaching people out of here though."

He nodded and told John to take them out of the room as I tapped the panels to get the bugs off. It was then that Monk came over and took the broom from me.

"You should go with them, Xavier. You're already hurting your ankle more by trying to reach the panel."

I scowled, but did as he asked just as he opened the panel and fowl smelling air rushed out. Everyone covered their nose in disgust, but I just stood there and took it. I'd smelled death before and this was nothing new to me.

"We should probably look up there. What do you want to do, Naru?"

"We won't be able to confirm anything if we don't go up but I don't think two people will fit up there."

"I guess it's gotta be me then."

"If you're frightened, do you want me to go?"

I snickered at their teasing, knowing that what Naru said was exactly what Monk needed to get fired up about seeing the corpse that was most likely lying up there. When he came back down, he was kneeling to the ground and looking a bit green so I walked into the room a bit. Ignoring him completely, I strolled so that I was under the disgusting ceiling panel and narrowed my eyes as I examined it from below. Almost immediately, I heard footsteps and what sounded like something being dragged. One of the ceiling panels suddenly shifted and the corpse fell out, enticing Mai to scream.

"No!"Looking at the body, I knelt down next to it with no problem at all and began to see what I could find. I must have scared a few people doing that though, because Monk began getting upset about me being so close to it.

"Xavier! What're you doing?"

"Shhh. It's a female, mid twenties, and no one we know."

"Wha-but how did you-"

"I'll explain later. For now, we should cover it and head back to the other room."

He nodded and threw a tarp over it before we all went back to the main room. Sitting around the fire, Monk gave me a look.

"So how did you know?"

"Easy. The body wasn't so decomposed that you couldn't tell it was a woman and it takes a while for decomposition to happen, so it couldn't have been Ayako. Then, from what I could see without touching it, the woman had her wisdom teeth pulled out and she has already had a child which tells me she's between the age of 21 and 35."

"But how-"

"I took an anthropology class in college. If it weren't for Andras, I probably would've became a forensic anthropologist."

I shrugged and asked Yasu for some tea to calm my frazzled nerves. Things got a bit complicated after that as Naru began to explain things and Monk had to tell the ever clueless Mai about Gaki; starving, child like demons. Everyone got a bit depressed then, but Yasu quickly did his best to cheer them up. That is, until he asked who's cup had the bunnies on it.

"You've managed to bring up the very things we're trying to repress here, huh, shounen? I guess your technique could use a little work."

"Well, I'm sill just a novice, after all." _Oh here we go._ "I want to quickly become a splendid old man like Takigawa!"

"That's creepy. Cut it out."

"Really? I got that from you. To object to me being creepy, you'd still have to be young…but you're an old man, aren't you?"

"Yasu, stop teasing Monk."

He looked at me innocently and I just rolled my eyes as Monk pushed the issue.

"At any rate, I'm number one in Japan."

"That's Mt. Fuji."

"After all, I am also Momotarou's follower."

"That's a peasant."

"A-Anyway, I am breakfast's-"

"That's a croissant."

"My gosh, you two are terrible."

I shook my head back and forth when I suddenly noticed a hand grabbing Ayako's cup.

"This is mine."

A young child with pigtails and hollow eyes picked up the cup. I didn't know who this kid was, but something was wrong. Everyone was just accepting the fact that there was now a child-no, _two_ children in our group. I noticed Mai seemed a bit dazed as well, but Yasu snapped her out of it and she too accepted our new additions. I glared at the two kids with a frown and when they smirked at me I started; a hand placing itself on my shoulder.

"You okay there, Xavier? You were glaring at Mairiko and Takato. Is there something wrong?"

I glanced at Yasu and the rest of the group and shook my head.

"No…Nothing's wrong."

_What happened? Why am I the only one who notices these kids weren't here before?_

"_You're not. They all know, but they cannot pinpoint what exactly changed."_

_Andras?_

"_I apologize for being silent for quite some time. I needed to use a lot of energy to reinstate the contract, as your friend had deduced. I cannot, however, help you with this situation at the moment. Your companion, Mai, may be the one to help you on this. Stay close to her."_

I mentally nodded at what he said and kept my focus on Mai. Andras was correct when he stated that everyone knew something changed, but he was even more correct about Mai.

"Are you kidding? Actually Lin also-"

"Who is Lin?"

"Who's that?"

She seemed confused at what she had said, but it was a step forward and I knew she would be the first one to figure this out before the others. I began to fidget, the stares of the two kids unnerving me, and soon I was chewing a strip of sour apple gum that I'd kept in my pocket. Finally, I was so fed up that I stood abruptly and began walking away.

"Xavier!"

"Were you even listening? Where do you think you're going?"

"Far away from the idiots who act like there's nothing wrong. You coming, Mai, Yasu?"

The two of them exchanged looks but got up as well. Apparently, everyone really didn't want to get split up and we all headed into another classroom. I just leaned against the wall by Yasu and Mai while they began searching for…something. _This is what you get for not listening, idiot._ I scowled but something Yasu and Mai said perked my interest.

"Something wrong?"

"Mm, since a while ago, I've been having this sort of gloomy feeling in my chest."

"You too, Taniyama?"

"'Too'? You mean you also feel it, Yasuhara?"

"Yeah. It's kind of like…I've been cheated of something somewhere, isn't it?"

"Yeah, exactly. That's the feeling."

He got closer and whispered to Mai, but I could still hear them and smirked knowing that Yasu had begun to think something was suspicious also.

"Hey, doesn't that strange feeling begin whenever Mariko and Takato show up?"

"You think so too? It seems like something bad has happened and my heart clenches."

"Yeah. It's way too dangerous to bring small children into a place like this…That's what I think anyway."

"Yeah…Probably, but that's not the only thing. Just now, to come up here, we had to pass through that small door on the landing, didn't we? A while ago, wasn't it a bad thing to cross through there? I don't remember why though." _It's because Lin and Ayako disappeared through here! You've gotta remember!_ "Of course, I might just be becoming a little timid after everything that's happened though."

I frowned at Mai's doubt when she was right about everything, but I knew I couldn't just tell them. _If I did, who knows what might happen. Especially since I just became good friends with them._ Just then, a dark feeling sent shivers up my spine and I hurriedly turned to find the two kids and John; the former with large grins on their faces. Everyone began walking out of the room, but I hung back a bit with Yasu.

"Yasu."

"Hm? What's up, Xavier?"

"Lin, Ayako. Those names mean anything to you?"

"Well…not really, but I feel like they ring a bell. Why?"

"You've all been fooled, Yasu. Those kids…they were never a part of our group."

"What are you-"

"Don't. Just…Don't trust those kids."

I quickly walked out of the room, aggravating my swollen ankle, and began walking away when I heard Yasu's voice.

"Why do we have two cars?"

I turned around, thinking he had figured it out, when my stomach suddenly plummeted. The children had demented looking smirks on their face and were quietly chuckling to each other. _Oh no._ I began running towards him and shouted out his name, just as flames engulfed the room.

"YASU!"

John and Masako held Mai back, but I managed to get my hands through the flames before Monk and Naru pulled me back. For the five seconds my hands touched the fire, I felt Yasu's hand slip through mine and yet, his hand still gripped mine until Monk pulled me back. _It's almost as if he was trying to pull _me_ out of the fire. Not only that, but the fire…it didn't feel hot. What could this mean though? _I continued to struggle against Monk and Naru's grip, getting so angered at the children nearby that I managed to flip Monk over my shoulder and kick Naru hard in the stomach. Growling as I limped over to the two kids, I grabbed one by the shirt collar and lifted him up to my face while ignoring everyone's protests.

"You think you're cute, brat? You think you're smarter than all of us, by tricking everyone into thinking nothing's wrong? No…you think your _teacher _is smart enough to handle _me? _Because, you know what? You've got another thing coming. There's no way in hell I'm going to sit back and let you do what you want!"

The kid started bawling his eyes out and the rest of our group were finally able to come to their senses; grabbing the kid from me and trying to pin me down. Fighting back tooth and nail, I was suddenly stopped by Mai who had slapped me harshly across the face as Monk pulled my arms behind my back.

"Get a hold of yourself! What is wrong with you? Attacking children? You're not the only one upset about Yasuhara, Xavier!"

My face dropped, but I lifted it back up again with murder in my eyes.

"You'll believe those…_things_ before you believe me? Mai, you know something's wrong! The moment Yasu even spoke up about it proves that those kids don't want us knowing what's going on! Lin! Ayako! They were here and you forgot about them just like everyone else! They disappeared too, but because these damn brats showed up no one remembers them! Friends are supposed to believe in each other, aren't they?"

I was desperate now. Desperate to know that she'd remember something and I wouldn't be alone in this, but she just frowned and looked confused.

"I don't know what you're talking about. They've been here this whole time and…I would believe you but…this is a bit-"

"Fine. Don't believe me."

"Xavier! I'm not-"

"Shut up! If you don't want to trust me then I'll just leave! Disappear like the rest of them!…I learned to trust you guys, but that was obviously a mistake."

I tossed my head to the side, a tear falling down my face as they all grew quiet. Naru, of course was the first to break that.

"Monk. Please restrain her. We cannot have her trying to harm the kids while she is not in the right state of mind."

I flinched, but didn't say anything as Monk bound my hands behind my back. It was then, that the supposed fire vanished and everyone hurried into the room to find out about Yasu. They dragged me in with them and I just stared sullenly as Monk, Naru, Masako, and eventually Mai forgot about Yasu and another child appeared.


	7. Chapter 7: Author's Note

**Okay. Here's the problem. I'm nearly done with the next chapter, but I'm stuck at the part where everything about Naru gets explained and i have little motivation to write that scene right now. BUT! I'm not dropping ti or anything. I just wanted to let you know that it will take a bit longer since I'm trying to get motivated and I'm also trying to update some of my other fanfics first since their chapters aren't as long ;) Sorry for the wait though. i just thought I'd give you guys a heads up.**


	8. Chapter 6 part 2

**Okay. Sorry about the wait, but I've decided to post what I have already written thanks to _Jem Juliette Jewels Jade_. It's not much, but I suppose it's better than keeping you guys waiting forever for me to update. I'll try not to take as long in the next part, but no promises.**

* * *

I was lying on the ground with my hands bound behind my back and my ankles bound together, listening in as Mai and Masako sat by the fire and discussed what had just happened.

"I'm ashamed of myself, being so shock about something like that. It was a big fire, but why should I cry about the spontaneous combustion of a room?"

"Yeah…"

I watched Mai's emotions scramble across her face. She had never been good at hiding them and I could tell that she was on the verge of figuring out everything that was going on. _Come on, Mai. Figure it out!_ I saw her bring her hands up to her head in frustration and sighed to myself. She was obviously close but then those kids distracted her.

"Onee-chan! Can I have some juice?"

"Of course! I'll get it. Which cup was yours, Takayo?"

"The cow one."

"Mine's the rabbit and Shigumi has the crab one, right?"

_No! I can't let him take that from me!_ I scowled and yelled over at Mai and the brats.

"Don't give it to him! That damn brat can't have that! It's Yasu's!"

"Xavier…"

"Don't give me that, Mai! You know something's wrong too! That cup is Yasu's and I won't have some demon brat touching his cup! Make him share with one of the other ones!"

"Enough."

I turned my head and glared harshly at Naru as he stood over me. "I do not want to gag you, Xavier, but I will if I need to."

"He touches that cup, and I'll show you how much I can do while still bound, Naru." I growled.

He sighed and called Monk over to gag me. He did with an apology, but I ignored it and just laid my head back down on the cool floor. My ankle throbbed occasionally when I moved it wrong and my shoulder was burning due to my position, but there was nothing I could do and I knew that.

"Hey, who drove the cars here?"

My eyes widened and I nudged myself over to watch the exchange between the people remaining in our group try and figure it out. Due to the two cars sitting outside alone, I knew that the kids' trick would only last as long as there are two people able to drive.

"What, are you half asleep again? I did."

"We have two cars! Who drove the other one?"

"I did, Mai."

I frowned at John. I knew he could drive, but he very rarely does and never brings it up unless it's necessary. Mai was close though. Very close, and that meant that the kids were going to try and get rid of someone again. Most likely, the one who was figuring it out. In other words, Mai was the next target. I struggled against my bonds. Mai was my only chance and if the kids were to take her, then I would have to figure out how to stop this on my own.

"Mai! Shigumi lost his coin."

"Eh? Where?"

"Upstairs. It was the entire 500 yen I had been saving."

"Oh my. That's terrible."

I began trying to talk through my gag to tell her not to trust them, but even I couldn't understand myself. Luckily, Naru wouldn't let her leave although he was only doing that for the children's sakes. Masako was doomed though and I grew depressed when I knew I could do nothing to save her.

"Hey, why'd Xavier get so quiet suddenly?"

I could practically feel Monk's shrug. "Dunno. Maybe she's finally thinking over what happened."

I could feel the tears in the corner of my eyes and slowly let them fall. I missed Yasu. Without him, I felt like a no one would ever believe me and I was back on my own after getting a taste of happiness. Silent sobs racked my body and I curled in on myself as the pitter patter of small feet hurried back down the stairs.

"I found it Mai!"

I didn't bother seeing her expression. It would be the same as before; shock at Masako's disappearance before it faded into ignorance. I had begun to zone out as I lay there on the floor, minutes seemed like hours and I couldn't even move at this point. I had sealed a majority of my emotions back into the little box in my mind again by the time I heard something interesting.

"The problem is these children. Since we're not exactly prepared to separate our forces, do we take them along?"

"It might be best for myself or Takigawa to remain with them. If it's sealing the classrooms though, I think Takizawa is more suited."

"What about Xavier though?"

"You're right Mai. While John may be capable of watching the children should something happen, with Xavier bound, she would be in more danger because she would be harder to move."

I mentally frowned at the fact that they considered me luggage, but shook it off at what they said next.

"Well, she does have that sealing ability right? Maybe we should take her with us. That way she can help if we need it and she'll be away from the children so we could take off the rope on her ankles."

I still hadn't move from my position, but it didn't matter because I wasn't going to get a say anyway. Thankfully, it was planned that I would go with them and so Mai, Naru, Monk, and I crawled through the small door and up the stairs.

"Well then, we'll leave the little guys to you John."

"Okay."

He gave a little wave at us and soon we went to the second floor classrooms. I was quiet for the duration of the period even though they had removed the gag; limping along with them as Monk cleansed the rooms. When the last classroom was finished I was glad that Mai spoke up to ease the silent tension.

"Hey, do you think it's doing anything?"

"Dunno. I'm not really feeling any resistance. You don't sense anything Mai? Xavier?"

"My ability is still kind of waking up."

They turned to me but I scowled at them. "What do you care what I think? As far as I see it, I don't know you anymore. Our own teammates are disappearing and all you fools can think about are those stupid brats that have been tricking you this whole time."

"Now look! I know you don't like those kids, but saying jokes like that isn't funny."

I rolled my eyes at Monk and Mai went to defuse the situation by bringing up the exact point I have been trying to tell them this whole time.

"All of us…up until now, how have we been performing exorcisms?"

I scoffed. "I've been trying to tell you, but I'm an unreliable source all of a sudden."

"Well…we've been severely handicapped with only the five of us, so isn't it really strange? Doesn't it seem that way to everyone else? My abilities only work when I'm half asleep, so isn't something odd?"

"That's true. Why have we done things like this? Let's go back. John can see spirits at least."

"What? And I can't?" Naru glared and I returned the motion. "Besides, I bet you John's already gone."

Monk shoved me up against the wall and glared something fierce. "Shut your mouth."

That was all he said and he let me go, the sudden weight to my ankle causing me to grimace as pain shot up my leg. Monk started walking off, as did Naru, but Mai gave me a sad look and waited for me to get up before I walked with her.

"Why did you say that, Xavier?"

"Because. It's already happened…five times. Every time someone is left alone or with those kids, they're taken and you all forget about them. I'm the only one aware of this and none of you believe me. Since Yasu was taken, I just…snapped. You started believing those brats over me and I was alone…again. One taste of happiness and it gets snatched away just like that."

I snapped my finger and Mai looked at me with sorrowful eyes. I didn't want her sympathy; I wanted her to realize what was going on. _And I might just get my wish._

"Wait!"

Monk and Naru stopped and I smirked as Mai realized what was going on.

"Hey, let's go back."

"Mai."

"It's strange. Something's strange! Leaving children here all alone…Do you think we would do such a thing? So let's go back."

"Go back you say…then what should we do about the little guys?"

They were reluctant, so I brought up my secret weapon. "Hey morons! Why do we have two cars! Only Monk can drive! I don't carry my license! Naru and Mai aren't old enough to be able to get a license! Figure it out already!"

They finally realized what was going on and we all started running up the stares away from the demented children. Naru grabbed Mai and I hurried despite my ankle when I heard Monk start chanting. _Idiot!_

"Monk!"

"Naru!"

He tossed his vajra, but Mai got to it before Naru could and she began chanting as well.

"Mai! It won't work! They aren't the ones doing this!"

She stopped as Monk sank beneath the sea of darkness and we began running again. Shutting ourselves in a classroom, I fell to the floor in agony. My ankle was on fire and my shoulder wasn't much better. Naru rushed over and untied me, giving me the freedom I needed to grab just above my ankle in an attempt to stop the pain. A cold hand covered mine and I opened an eye to see Naru looking at me.

"Let me look at it."

Begrudgingly, I let go and he began looking it over and putting pressure on it to check for breaks. He let out a sigh and I knew what was coming.

"You broke it. It was probably just sprained before, but you've overexerted it. We can't do anything about it until we get out. Now, explain. There was someone else who could drive because we have two cars. That person must have also been taken by the children."

"You've forgotten their existence. The person who drove the other car was Lin."

"Then, when the village master came to us and made a request for the exorcism and we came up here…and asked the children to be guides for us…"

"That never happened. We did come here after the village master asked us to, but…I'm not too sure about this part because I passed out, but apparently we set up equipment outside then it started to rain so we went inside where we were trapped. Monk, Yasu, and Masako had gone to get groceries and when we went to look at the rooms Lin went by himself and disappeared. We saw everyone else returning and hoped that we could stop them from closing the door, but we were too late and we lost Ayako."

"Wait, what spiritual abilities did they have and how do we know that they were actually here?"

_They don't trust me again. Wait! That's it!_ "The cups! There's nine cups, right? Monk, Naru, Mai, John, me, Ayako-who's a priestess, Masako-who's a medium, Yasu-who just has vast information gathering skills, and Lin-who's an onmyouji. Remember?"

"T-then where did the children come from?"

I shook my head. "Every time someone disappeared they were replaced with one of the brats."

Mai thought it over and then smiled as she clasped her hands together. She remembered them. Naru still sat there in thought and it was hard to figure out what he was thinking.

"It's Kirishima Yuuki."

"Who's-"

"The teacher, Mai. There's no way those kids could've come up with something this complex. He's the one you should've been after this whole time, but you've all been fooled for so long…"

I trailed off and shook my head. The pain was getting to me and every muscle and bone in my body ached. I sighed wearily and Mai gave me a concerned look.

"Are you okay, Xavier?"

"I'd say yes, but you both know that isn't true. I just…need some sleep."

My eyes started to slide closed, but I was abruptly shaken by Naru and Mai.

"Xavier!"

"You can't sleep now. I understand how exhausted you must be, but sleeping now could be the end for all of us. Especially since you're the one who seems unaffected by all of this." I nodded slowly. "Now Mai, I believe that Kirishima is most likely on the first floor. If we assume that they are all trapped here, which would he be in? The classroom or the teacher's room?"

"The classroom." I mumbled. "He'd be with the kids."

"But how would we do the exorcism?"

"One of us three would have to do it."

"Naru, you can't do it! Xavier too! You both just got out of the hospital!"

"Then you do it, Mai. You just have to persuade them."

"Huh?"

I sighed at her slow wittedness. "Talk to them, Mai. Believe it or not, you're really good at lecturing people."

"I understand. I'll try."

Naru smiled a bit and he helped me up, letting me lean on him for support as he grabbed her hand.

"We're going to have to head down to the first floor to make it easier for you to correspond with the spirits and I'll use suggestion to put you in a trance. Just make sure you don't let go of my hand."

I mentally smirked as she blushed twenty shades of red and then, she distracted herself by handing Naru Monk's vajra.

"He threw it over to you earlier."

"Bou-san did? To me?…Is that what he said?"

"What?"

"It's nothing. It seems like I have been underestimating him."

"What, Monk's got something on you too?"

He frowned at me and we headed off again as he mentioned something about still having time. He struggled to help me through the small opening into the first floor, but we managed and just as he helped Mai through, he shoved us both out of the way. I hit the stairs with my bad shoulder and immediately curled up a bit and clutched at it through my shirt.

"Mai, Xavier, you two okay?"

"I-I'm fine."

"Yeah. Just…urg…_peachy_."

Mai then looked at her hand and I gave it a glance too. Naru had let go of her hand. _This isn't good._ I sat up, before struggling to stand and I grabbed Mai's shoulder.

"Mai. We have to go. _Now._"

"But Naru!"

"Mai! Listen to me! That's not him!"

"It has to be! That's his voice!"

"Stop putting yourself in denial and do as I say! The moment you let go of his hand he was gone! Think about it! How can you still hear his voice after you were separated?!"

Her eyes widened in realization and I grabbed her hand, dragging her up the stairs before the demon brats could get to us. We shut the door to the classroom we were now hiding in and we both fell to the ground. Mai began shaking, releasing sobs and the only thing I could do was hold her. I pulled her into my lap and tried to calm her down. I was never very good at this, but she was the only one who could help right now since I was out of commission.

"Mai. Come on, Mai. You're not completely alone. Trust me, I know what that feels like."

"Y-You're not very g-good at this."

I smirked. "Yeah, I know…but can't you feel it Mai?" I felt her stop shaking and her breathing steady so I continued. "Everyone's spirit energy? They're still here. Lin's talismans to make the shadow barriers are still on the first floor. Even this room is protected by Monk… You can do it, Mai…Even if you think you're alone…you'll never truly be alone because you have all of your friends here with you."

My eyelids drooped and I clutched Mai closer to me in a vain attempt to make sure she doesn't leave me here. "I can't handle being alone…So bring them back, Mai."

Oddly enough, I woke up just after I'd closed my eyes.

"Gah, and I thought I'd finally be getting some sleep."

I groaned and looked around. There were lights floating all around the room and I spotted Mai frowning at the blackboard and talking to herself.

"And then Masako vanished from the second floor."

"Exactly."

I blinked at the figure in front of me and rolled my eyes. Gene had shown himself, so I might as well pop up too.

"You managed to fall asleep."

"Still…no one else is here."

"Oh? So I don't count? And here I thought we were friends."

I stood up, thankful that my spirit body doesn't carry over injuries, and was promptly tackled in a hug by Mai. Sighing, I patted her on the head, uncomfortable with the sudden contact.

"Xavier's not the only one, Mai. Why don't you take a closer look."

The two of us looked around and noticed groups of those demon kids' spirits on the first floor and in the hallway. Looking around a bit more than Mai, I tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to two figures holding each other in one of the rooms.

"It's Xavier and I."

"Mai, Monk and the others are here too."

She looked around and we saw Monk staring at nothing, Naru and Yasu sitting next to each other in one of the classrooms, Masako and John wandering around, and Lin and Ayako in one of the hallways. When Lin and Ayako met up though, they passed through each other and my eyes widened slightly.

"What the-"

"They're completely ignorant of each other…"

"That's right, Xavier. Everyone is still here, but they are not aware of each other's existence."

I nodded and Mai suddenly dropped to the floor, surprising me. I immediately went to her side, but she was fine. Crying, but fine.

"Oh thank goodness."

I let out a sigh of relief before turning to Gene. "So what are we going to do, _Naru_?"

He smiled at me and put his hand on Mai's shoulder. "You two are capable of handling this yourselves, right?"

I frowned at what he said. _Ourselves? That means he won't be there with us, but why? The only reason he won't be able to help would be-_

"You can't come with us, can you?"

He shook his head. "There's something keeping me from getting out, so I won't be able to go out there with you."

Mai looked scared and nervous. "Don't worry, Mai. I'll come with you and help you out."

She nodded and Gene went about explaining how to return to her body. I already knew how, so I told her I would head back first and wait for her to return. She was concerned, but I smiled and went back to my body and the moment I did, the pain hit me like a truck.

"Ugh…damn…I forgot how much pain I was in when I left my body. Now I have to refocus on ignoring it again."

I closed my eyes and focused on the pain, slowly getting used to it. After a moment, I felt confident that I wouldn't loose face and just in time too. Mai was beginning to stir.

"Naru?…I really do like Naru, huh?"

She lifted her head and I looked down at her with a blank expression. "It's about time you woke up, sleeping beauty. I almost thought you eloped with dream Naru."

She jumped in shock, hitting my chin with the top of her head, and I groaned in pain.

"Ah! I-I'm sorry, Xavier! I just forgot you were here."

I nodded, waving my hand a bit. "It's fine. Are you going to go and try to talk to the teacher now?"

"Y-Yeah. A-Are you coming too?"

I thought about it for a moment. _I could, but she's the one with the light in her and, because of Andras, I might actually make it worse should I go. Besides, it might be better to see how Mai does first before I go and try to do anything._

"Actually, with Andras, I might make it worse. So, I'll stay behind for now but if anything happens come back to your body and I'll be right here waiting."

"Okay."

I sat there and watched her begin relaxing herself in order to leave her body again. After a while she was completely slumped over and I felt her spirit leave her body, so I went and thought up ways to entertain myself while she was gone. _I could sing, but I suck at singing and it might draw those brats' attention. I can't do anything that involves moving too much, nor can I do anything that requires making noise. Hm, Andras? Is there any way to help Mai out?_

"_Absorbing them would be a bad idea in your state, and I have a feeling your friend will be able to handle them."_

_Well aren't you helpful. What about my leg and shoulder? Anything you can do about that?_

"_No. I am incapable of healing unless in my own original form which, as you know, is impossible to obtain while inside of you. Unfortunately, you will have to 'grin and bare it'."_

I frowned and glared down at my ankle. _Stupid thing. We're going to have to move down to the first floor eventually and there's no way Mai can carry me._ I sighed and gazed out the window. I was no longer worried about everyone else since I saw them looking okay earlier, but I still felt angry about them not believing me before.

"_They do now though. Surely they have recognized the error in their ways and will apologize when this is all over."_

I rolled my eyes. _I doubt that. They'll be too happy that we just got out of here to worry about making it up to me._ I noticed Mai shift and looked over at her as she brought a hand up to her face.

"I messed up."

"What'd you do?"

She turned to me with a sorrowful look. "I made Kirishima angry. They forgot what happened when they died so I tried telling them but…all I did was make them upset. He said, 'Me and this world and the way things are, it's all just fine'. I don't know how I can persuade them now."

"Mai, I think I know what they're feeling. They're lonely but they don't want people to pity them. They just want someone who understands and can fill that loneliness. They want…friends."

She gave me a look and nodded. "So that's it…I did something stupid, huh."

"Yeah."

"Okay! Round two!"

She stood up but I glanced at the look on her face and smirked. "You have no idea what you're going to do, do you?"

She nervously chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck. "Hehe, no. Do you have an idea, Xavier?"

I nodded and shakily stood, wincing as Mai fretted over me. "Actually, I do. The classroom on the first floor is most likely where we'll find them, so we just head there and try to convince them again."

She gave a confident nod and helped me out the door, where we saw the kids; only they weren't actual kids now. They had large stomachs and were very boney with little strands of hair on their head and large eyes. I gazed upon them nonchalantly and Mai actually went forward and began speaking with one of them.

"Hey, let's go to the classroom."

It tilted it's head to the side and Mai, reluctantly stepped away from me to speak with it some more.

"You know, if you want to go there, would you like to go with me? I want to see the rest of the class to apologize for something I did. So will you come to the classroom with me and my friend?"

They gave a look at me and took a step back. Afraid that I would scare them off or make them attack us, I smiled at them and mentally spoke with Andras. _Hey, can you completely hide your presence so I don't end up ruining this for Mai and everyone?_

"_If that is what you want…But it does require you to use some power as long as I am concealing it, so you may feel quite a bit weaker afterwards."_

_That's fine. I just want to get this over with._ I felt him retreat into the back of my mind and the slow trickle of energy that I would be losing, caused me to breathe a bit heavier as I hid Andras' presence. The children seemed to accept that I wasn't a threat and soon Mai and I were making our way to the first floor classroom. We were going at a slow pace, but Mai was helping me along as best she could with me leaning on her and one of the children holding her hand. Reaching the classroom, Mai opened the door and helped me to the wall so I had something a bit more sturdy to lean on.

"Sensei and everyone, I'm sorry about what I said before. I spoke to you in a terrible way but now, I do have one more thing to say. Please don't continue to collect anymore friends and please return my friends to me. Sensei is precious to everyone here just like my friends are to me and Xavier. Just like how all of you like your teacher and your friends, Xavier and I, we love our friends too."

She smiled softly as the children gathered around her and even a few went over to me, as I slid down the wall to the floor. Mai started telling them about Naru and everyone, and it even put a smile on my face.

"Xavier's really nice too, when you get to know her. She was very quiet and scary looking when we first met, but now we're really good friends…and I really feel bad about not believing her before."

She looked at me and I nodded thankfully at her apology while she continued. "I want to be with my precious friends so that Xavier and I can leave this place and go back to Tokyo together. So, I wish you would return them all to me. The friends that came here with all of you have come to be very precious, and you've really grown to love them. I think though, that not being with your loved ones will make you lonely and sad. So I believe that everyone should stay together."

"Together?"

I looked at the child that spoke and allowed a small smile to grace my face as the children around us began to actually look like the children they once were. They began to have names and faces, and even Kirishima seemed to understand that what he had been doing was wrong. Mai really had a strong light in her and I let out a sigh of relief when the children and Kirishima finally moved on.

"You did good, Mai."

She turned to me with tears streaming down her face and she hurried over and shoved her face in the crook of my neck as she cried for a little bit. I just looked out the window at the moon and finally decided that she'd cried enough.

"Mai, you're getting my shirt all wet."

"S-Sorry."

She sniffled and wiped her tears with a smile before helping me up so we could finally leave this school. Heading over to a window, she managed to pull it open and gave a little chuckle as a fresh breeze blew through and ruffled our hair. She started climbing out and then paused and turned towards me.

"Um, I-I should help you to the door, huh…"

"It's fine, Mai. I think my ankle can handle one little jump."

She gave me a look, but hopped out the window and helped me through it as well. I wasn't nearly as successful as she was, having rolled my injured ankle some more, but I didn't really care. I was happy just to be out of that school and able to lie down on the grass. I also let Andras' presence return too and just about fell asleep immediately afterwards.

"Wah…Can't fall asleep yet. I still need to give Yasu a good hit to the head for not figuring it out sooner."

I blinked my eyes rapidly to try and dispel some of the fog in my head, even going as far as to sit up which made my vision spin. I heard Mai yell from my left and watched as Monk jumped out from the second story window. Mai freaked out as he landed perfectly, before jumping backwards as she threw rocks at him.

"Ah, you're still young, aren't you."

"Yasuhara!"

"Yasu! Hurry up and get down here! You took too long to figure it out!"

He chuckled from his second story window and Monk yelled at him from below.

"Hey! I still have to show that I still have the skills of a young person anyway. You gonna try it too?"

"I refuse!"

I rolled my eyes at their antics just as Ayako popped up from another window and Naru, Lin, and Masako appeared in the doorway. Masako started running towards Mai, but easily got sidetracked by Naru and his well being.

"Mai, Xavier! Are you two alright?!"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Actually, I could be doing better."

I winced as I forced myself to stand and then I was suddenly picked up and held bridal style by none other than Yasu. He smiled down at my blushing face and I scowled.

"_My_, princess~ You've really done a number on yourself~"

"Well, if Mr. Prince Charming would actually stay with me, I wouldn't have this problem now would I? You're supposed to be the smart one too! How come it took you so long to figure it out?!"

I smacked him on the back of the head as he chuckled nervously, before crashing my lips to his; Monk wolf whistling in the background.

"Damn, I missed you."

I muttered as I pulled away and laid my head on his shoulder. Exhaustion easily creeped up on me and I fell asleep in the arms of the one man I couldn't live without.

"Hey, isn't it better to wake her up now?"

"It seems like she's suffering."

"It's already past lunch time too."

"Okay, I'll do it."

"What are you planning on doing?"

Mai was suddenly flipped out of her futon and tossed across the room while holding her blanket. Monk and the others were smiling and laughing except Xavier, who was asleep with her head propped on Yasuhara's shoulder. Scowling, Mai pointed at her.

"How come I'm not allowed to sleep but Xavier is?!"

Yasuhara smiled and ran his hands through Xavier's hair as she frowned and snuggled closer, while Monk explained.

"Because, she _was _awake. But only just long enough to eat before she went back to sleep. She was kinda half dead too. Her eyes were blank and she didn't say a word."

"We thought something was wrong, but when we shook her to snap her out of it she growled at us. I thought she was possessed or something, but John said she was fine."

Ayako shrugged her shoulders and Mai suddenly thought of something as she looked at the red rings on Xavier's wrists.

"Um, did you guys ever apologize for what happened at the school? You know, not believing her and then tying her up like you did?"

Everyone gave each other looks and realized that none of them had said anything to Xavier, while Yasuhara glared at everyone and gently touched her raw wrists. Monk rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"We were pretty mean to her back then, huh?"

"Whatever you guys did, it must've been pretty bad for her to growl at us earlier."

Ayako crossed her arms and gave an oddly gentle look at Xavier. As Monk explained what they did, Yasuhara's face grew darker and darker by the minute. He silently wondered how much Xavier was hurt by what had happened. She already had trust issues, even with him, and with none of the group believing her when she was right; that just made everything worse. He could feel the tension she had built up in her body and sincerely hoped that she wouldn't revert back to her old self because of the group's mistake.

"Well, I'll apologize to her when she wakes up."

"Wait, Monk? How is the search for Naru's brother going?"

"It's still ongoing, but they had to stop yesterday because of the rain."

Ayako took a sip of her tea and sighed. "Anyways, I'm glad that everything ended up fine this time too; aside from what happened to Xavier. But this way, Mai can get out of this world."

Mai's eyes widened in shock, but a bit of understanding and sorrow as well. She didn't really _want_ Naru to leave and shut down the business. She wouldn't have a job, for one thing and she didn't really know what she was going to do with all the free time she'd have.

"I can hire you as my assistant, but the pay won't be as good."

"By the way, what did you used to do before?"

She didn't really know the answer to that, but she didn't want them all to worry.

"If you have some free time, you can come to Sunday School."

Monk started chuckling and that eventually caused everyone else to laugh as well as they imagined John working at the Sunday School.

"Xavier used to help out at the school sometimes, as well."

That just caused them to laugh even harder as they imagined Xavier smiling and frolicking with the little kids.

"Ahaha! She'd probably just sit there with her usual blank expression as the kids climbed on her like a jungle gym!"

"No! They probably wouldn't go near her because she looks so scary!"

"Who's scary?"

Monk's laugh died in his throat as a dark aura hovered behind him. Xavier had woken up and was standing behind him on a set of crutches with a scary half-lidded look. Monk didn't dare look back at her and instead, stared pleadingly at Yasuhara. Yasuhara merely smiled in return which was nearly as bad as Xavier at the moment.

"Now, Xavier~ You're just proving his point by doing that!~"

She frowned, hitting Monk over the head with one of her crutches before heading out to the patio.

"Aw!~ No goodbye kiss?"

She scowled, still half asleep, but stopped. "I'm just going out to the patio. If you want _anything_, _you're_ coming over _here_."

"Yes, my princess~"

"Stop calling me that!"

The two of them walked out and Monk made a whipping motions with his hands.

"Wah-tch! That boy's been whipped."

A crutch flew in from the patio door and hit Monk upside the head. "I heard that!"

The rest of the group chuckled until Mai suddenly grew silent. Monk was concerned and asked what was wrong, and she pulled out a pen and a notepad.

"Please, give me your phone numbers!…I don't want to separate from everyone like this! Even without the office and the work, I want to meet with everyone! I want to sometimes meet with you guys to chat like this, and even if we don't meet, I want to call just to ask how you are doing. So, if you don't mind, I would like to get everyone's cell number!"

"Why didn't you just say so?" All eyes turned to Xavier as she used one crutch to hobble over to Mai and right down her number. "I don't normally give this to anyone, so don't just go giving it out. Okay?"

"Xavier…"

"Hey! How come I don't get your number?!"

She turned to Monk and picked up her crutch that she'd thrown at him earlier, making him flinch. "Because. I don't talk to old men."

He nearly died right there while Yasuhara and the others laughed, but Xavier rolled her eyes and put her number in his phone before handing it back.

"Here you go, grandpa. Call me up if you need someone to tell your war stories to."

They laughed a bit more as Mai asked about Naru and Lin, when Yasuhara stood up and pulled Naru and Lin inside to ask some questions.

"What is Yasuhara doing?"

"Who knows?"

"Just sit back and watch, Mai. You might learn something interesting."

Xavier started walking towards the door but was stopped by Monk.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"For a walk."

"But don't you want to hear about-"

"No. For you see, Monk, I already know."

Xavier gave a small sad smile and left, leaving behind a group of very confused people and a smiling Yasuhara.

"That's my girl."


	9. Author's Note! SUPER Important!

**Oh man, you guys are going to be very upset about this, but I won't be updating for a while. My laptop died on me Christmas Eve and I haven't been able to fix it. T.T It really sucks because I was in the middle of writing updates (for The Black Panther, Street Smarts, and Amber Leaves) and it just stopped working and now it won't turn on. It's possible that I will lose **_**everything**_** as far as ongoing fanfic ideas, new chapters, and new fanfics. My mom is trying to save everything, but I don't know if my computer will be fixed or if I'll have to get a new one and start over.**

**I **_**will**_** have you know that I am handwriting the next chapter for Amber Leaves in a notebook right now and I will use my family's other computer to update it soon, hopefully. If I'm lucky, my computer problems will be solved soon, but for now most of my updates will be slow or on hold. So I'm super sorry for all of you who have been looking for updates and for those of you who are following me and now have 8 new emails from me. ^^**


	10. Chapter 6 Part 3

**Sorry! It's very short, but it gave me inspiration for more, so expect more chapters after this ^^ Thanks to all those who have reviewed so far and a special thanks to Jem Juliette Jewels Jade who reviewed recently and encouraged me to update! Hope you guys like it, but it might be a while until the next chapter. I still don't have my computer fixed yet.**

* * *

As I strolled through the forest on my crutches, I passed by the lake where a couple of divers were searching in the middle. I paused for a second, but then continued on and soon tired myself out. These past couple of days had been a bit much for me and my body was having a hard time handling everything, so I went ahead and leaned up against a tree, setting my crutches next to me. With a sigh, I began meditating, closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the trunk of the tree.

_Man, who'd of thunk Naru would be hiding so much. It took me a while, but I pretty much figured it out when I saw that fake Oliver Davis. SPR: Society of Paranormal Research and Shibuya Psychic Research. Probably wouldn't of figured out his name though if I didn't spend time over in the states. Noll was never one of those nicknames I really knew._ I let out a deep breath and began closing off my mind to everything except my surroundings. The birds whistling, the leaves rustling. _Ah, It's been a while since I could meditate and relax like this._

"_Heh, you should learn to relax more often, Xavier. You're worse than my brother."_

_I frowned and opened my eyes to find myself in an expanse of black; flying orbs of light roaming around in random directions. Standing among them, was Gene. A large smile lighting up his face as I scowled at him._

"_I'd be able to relax more, if you weren't going around causing problems and interrupting my meditating." He chuckled and I sighed. "So what now? They know about you and Naru now. Or should I call him Oliver?"_

_Gene shook his head. "No. He wouldn't appreciate that."_

"_Right. Knowing him though, he's not going to tell them anything, huh?"_

"_Probably."_

_I smirked and glanced at him as the scenery changed to that of the lake. I glanced across the lake at the divers still searching and my smirk fell into a stoic expression._

"_What's going to happen when they find you? Mai's not going to be very happy." I gave him a look. "She still thinks you're Naru."_

_He gave me a sad smile, looking over the lake as well. "I'll finally be able to rest in peace."_

"_Ah, so no more bothering me then?"_

_He chuckled. "I might be able to find a way. Can't leave Mai to figure things out on her own."_

_That caused me to laugh and the scene changed once more to that of the cabin. The group was still there, but their voices were muted so I couldn't hear them. Standing up, I was glad that pain didn't transfer to my spiritual self and stood next to Gene as we over looked the scene. Mai was obviously confused, but the tension in the room was high. A few of them obviously weren't happy about Naru hiding things from them, however, Naru was unreadable. He left soon after we got there though, and I gave Mai a glance._

"_You going to tell her?"_

"_About me not being Noll? Hm, I guess I should."_

"_Well, duh. If she continues to think you're Naru, they'll never get together like you want them to."_

_He chuckled. "Who said I wanted them together?"_

_I rolled my eyes and changed the scene once more, returning to the forest._

"_Well, you can't exactly have her, as much as I know you want to. Besides, I know that you want your brother to be happy more than yourself. That's why you've stuck around so long, isn't it? You've been worried about him and have been helping him out through Mai. Thus, bringing the two of them closer. You might as well admit it, Gene. You may like Mai, but you like your brother more."_

_He smiled brightly once more. "I suppose that's about right. I can see why Yasuhara chose you."_

_My face flushed a bit and I frowned. "Hey now. No dragging him into this."_

_Just then, I felt a presence draw closer and spotted Mai not far off from where my body was leaning up against a tree. Gene saw this too, and I patted his back._

"_Now's your chance, lover boy. Tell her now or I'll find a way to drag you back here so I can pound your head in for lying to her."_

_With that, I shoved him forward and he chuckled, before leaning up against a tree not far from where I was. _I decided that I should return to my body and did so, keeping an ear out for the conversation not too far from me. Gene made his expression blank and I could see how people would mistaken him for Naru. _With that expression, they certainly are identical._ I thought, as Mai approached Gene, most likely mistaking him for Naru again.

"I thought you had gone to the lake. What are you doing here?"

Gene stayed silent and Mai went on.

"Oh yeah. I'm sorry I called you 'Naru-chan' before."

"Why?"

"Isn't it only your older brother who calls you that? I didn't know the reason at all so…"

Mai walked over to the other side of the tree and leaned up against it as well.

"That's a story from when we were little."

"Okay…Naru-Is actually someone important. I kind of felt the distance. Hehe, no wonder you called me stupid. Compared to you I'm a real idiot."

I rolled my eyes. _He always calls you stupid. _I thought as she went on.

"You'll return to England and you'll return to the lifestyle you had before you met us."

My eyes softened and I closed them exhaling. _So that's what she's worried about. She doesn't want to lose contact with any of us and she's gotten pretty close to Naru as well. With him going to England after this, she's afraid they'll never meet again. But if I know anything, Naru won't let go of Mai that easily._

"I can't imagine how you used to live. We live in completely different worlds."

"That's not true." Gene said.

"Really?"

"I'm just a stupid scholar."

I held back a laugh at Gene and struggled to keep quiet as Mai freaked out a bit.

"Wha-What's wrong? Calling yourself that way…" She suddenly stopped turning around and faced away from him again, cheeks flaming red and I nearly gave away my position again. "Na-Naru was also an orphan."

"My situation was different than yours and Xavier's. I had a brother and I met my grandparents."

I felt a bit jealous at that, but I stuffed it back down. I had long gotten over the fact that other people had what I didn't. _But situations change. I have friends now. A family, almost._

"True." Mai said. "What kind of person was your brother?"

"Who knows." Gene replied and I mentally scoffed. _Pft. You know Mai. You're talking to him now._

"So, I'm glad we met here. I wanted to apologize too."

"I was looking."

"Eh?" Mai seemed confused and went to look at him as Gene went on.

"I wanted to say a couple of things to you, so I was hoping I would meet you."

"Wha-"

Gene cut her off. "I thought maybe I wouldn't see you anymore, so I had a couple of things to tell you, but…"

"B-But?"

"Never mind."

Mai face faulted and I smacked my forehead. _Gene! You're supposed to tell her, not just disappear like that! _I glanced up with a scowl as he stood in front of me, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous smile.

"_Sorry, Xavier. I guess I'm too chicken."_

"You bet you're a chicken." I said in a hushed tone, but then I heard the sound of someone approaching and turned towards Mai as Gene disappeared. Walking over towards Mai was Naru and my mouth dropped open in shock. _Gene! You did that on purpose! You knew he was coming and left Mai hanging so that Naru would have to find out! You mangy rat! I'm _definitely_ haunting you when I die!_ I heard a chuckle in the wind and slowly got up. I needed to leave the two of them alone, I knew. It was most likely that Naru would discover Mai's feelings for Gene and I'd rather not eavesdrop on their conversation.

Being as quiet as I could, I picked up my crutches and began to wander over to the lake again. It took a while longer, my body trying to get used to the pain after my little spiritual wandering, but I soon made it to the edge of the water and stood, staring out over it. _I wonder what I would do, if I had family like that and they ended up dying. Naru's PK too. I've read up on that and heard that he relives whatever pain the ghost was in. _I closed my eyes and remembered the feeling I felt when we pulled over on the side of the road that day. The car accident, then being run over again, only to be thrown into the lake and drowning.

I fell to my knees painfully, gasping for breath and clutching my throat as tears went down my face. _Naru had to experience that. The death of his own twin brother. It's just like…what I have to remember, only he has to live with the fact that the culprit might never be caught._ I coughed a bit, a lump forming in my throat, as I felt a hand touch my shoulder. Looking back, I saw Gene giving me a small smile of understanding.

"Gene…" I muttered, shifting my gaze down to the dirt below me. "Gene, is there anything I can do? I-I want to find her."

"_How? Noll would have searched for her already."_

"I know…I know, but maybe I could find something. I-I have his PK too. I could find something of yours and try to get pieces from what happened."

He shook his head when I gazed back up at him. _"There's nothing you can do. Even I didn't see her face."_

I forced myself to stand up without crutches, gritting my teeth against the pain, and grabbed the front of his shirt in anger.

"I _will_ find her. I will relive your accident everyday if I have to, but I will find her."

His eyes were wide in shock, for being able to grab his shirt in this form or for saying what I did, I wasn't sure. But I was determined to find this woman who hurt Gene and Naru, no matter what. Letting him go, I picked up my crutches once more and noticed his gaze shift out towards the divers. I looked as well and noticed that they began shouting.

"_They found it."_

I immediately knew what Gene meant and nodded solemnly. "I'll go tell Lin…But Gene."

He turned to me and cocked his head to the side.

"I promise I'll find her for you…and for Naru. So don't go disappearing on all of us just yet, okay?"

He nodded with a smile and slowly faded away as I turned and hurried back to the cabin. When I reach it, I was out of breath and Yasu hurried over to stabilize me and keep me from falling over.

"Woah! What's going on, Xavier?"

I looked up and found Lin's eyes. "T-They…found him."

His eyes widened and he stood up, hurrying out the door with a thanks. I knew he was going after Naru to tell him and I went to head back to the lake. Yasu was worried, but I told him I was fine. There across from me, was Gene, pointing at the old yellow object that the divers were pulling out.

"_Paper."_ Was all he said before disappearing once more and as soon as I made it over to the lake, I dropped my crutches and began helping the divers pull the body out of the water. They were thankful for the help, but that wasn't why I helped them. I actually tore off a piece of the yellow paper holding Gene and snuck it into my pocket before Naru and Mai ran over; the later handing me my crutches and pulling me back. Naru walked past us and went to confirm his suspicions, before walking off. Mai and I gave him a glance, but she knew that he needed some time to himself and offered to lead me back to the cabin.

When we returned, we gave everyone the news and Yasu went and herded me off to bed, knowing that I was exhausted and in pain. He helped me down onto the bed and leaned my crutches up against the wall as I sat up with the covers over my legs.

"Yasu."

"Hm?"

"When we leave here…I'm going to have to leave too."

He immediately frowned and sat down beside me, brushing my cheek with a hand.

"Why?"

"I'm sorry. But there's something I need to do."

I gripped the blankets tightly and glared down at them, and he seemed to understand right away. Leaning forward, he kissed my forehead.

"Alright. Just don't go getting yourself into trouble, okay? And make sure you write sappy love letters to me.~"

I smiled slightly and kissed him briefly. "I'll do my best, but no sappy love letters."

"Oh darn." He said, leaning his forehead against mine with a smirk.

He kissed me again and then stood up, heading for the door. "Try and get some sleep, princess."

"Hey. I'm not a princess. Didn't I say that already?"

"Yes, yes.~ Goodnight, Xavier."

"Night." I said with a roll of my eyes and laid down on my bed with my head facing the wall. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out that scrap of yellow paper and frowned, gripping it tightly in my fist and falling into an uneasy slumber full of car accidents and death.

* * *

The next morning, I was awake around three and couldn't go back to sleep. So instead, I sat at the table in the kitchen and went over everything that I knew from Gene's memories. It wasn't much, but I had the color and type of car the woman drove, as well as what clothes she had been wearing. _They weren't brand name clothing, so she wasn't too well off. Then the car was newer, but didn't have a license plate. So most likely it was rented or recently bought. Judging from the coloration though, I'd say rented. Nearby too. The rental agency would have to be in this area somewhere since the car wasn't too dirtied and it would be smarter than going way out of the way to rent a car. It shouldn't be hard to point out either since it was a bright red color._

It was around eight o' clock when Ayako woke up to make breakfast for everyone, only to nearly scream when she saw me sitting at the table with an empty container of coffee next to me and crumpled papers littered across the table.

"Geeze! You nearly gave me a heart attack! What are you doing?!"

I blinked at her lazily. "Nothing."

She groaned and smacked her forehead, before pointing at the litter I had gathered up.

"That doesn't look like nothing! How long have you been awake anyway?!"

"Since three." I mumbled as I lit up a match and threw the papers into the fireplace. "Do you need help with breakfast?"

She had her mouth open, but sighed, knowing that she wasn't exactly going to get through to me at this point.

"Sure. It's pretty simple though. How's your leg doing?"

"Fine. It'll be healed by the end of the week. No more crutches by the day after tomorrow."

"That's good." She said and began preparing breakfast while I sat down and leaned my crutches against the table.

I folded my arms on the table and rested my head on them, watching Ayako make breakfast before she told me to go down and wake up the guys. I did so, ignoring their own bloodshot eyes, and walked next to Yasu as we all returned for breakfast. As I plopped my head back down onto the table, Yasu pushed my head to the side and looked at me.

"You've got bags, Xavier."

"Mm."

He gave me a small smile and ruffled my hair while everyone got situated. It wasn't until mid-afternoon though, that Naru's step-parents had arrived. His mother in particular ended up crying for a while after she was told about Gene's body being found, but no one said anything and I sat quietly, remembering the faces of my old friends' parents when they discovered what had happened to them.

When she did manage to calm down a bit, she showed everyone a picture of the two when they were younger and, while Monk and the others were surprised to find out they were twins, the rest of us just gave it a glance and silently mourned. _I suppose that's why Naru always wore black clothes. He was mourning his brother…I doubt he'll stop though. He might always mourn over the lose of his twin._

After the body had been sent to the morgue in England, the rest of us returned to Tokyo and Mai ended up planning a bit of a farewell party for Naru and Lin. No one but Yasu knew that I would be leaving soon, and I wondered if I should tell them. _I don't think I will. Naru would definitely disapprove of what I'm going to do, and they probably won't be happy either. I guess I'll just leave it up to Yasu to explain later. After all, I need to leave as soon as I can. I found the car rental last night and need to see what I can discover._

I yawned, leaning my head back against Yasu's shoulder as we sat on the couch in the SPR office. Mai was closing the windows and such, but it seemed Naru was planning on returning to the office after a break in England. Mori would take care of it until his return and that way, Mai wouldn't be out of a job.

"Okay. I closed all the windows."

"Can we go?" Ayako asked.

"As soon as Naru and Lin are ready."

"Yeah. What's your rush, grandma. You're not getting any younger."

She turned on me with a growl, but I just smirked as Monk turned back towards Mai.

"We'll have to say goodbye to this place for a while, huh…"

"Well, isn't it good that the office will remain?" Yasu replied, smiling brightly as always.

"Yep." Mai smiled as well when John asked an interesting question.

"How long will the break be?"

"They don't know yet. A lot of things have happened, so Naru won't be able to return for a while. So in the meantime Mori will take care of the office."

Mai and Ayako ended up playfully arguing as well about their wallet sizes or something, when Lin closed up his office.

"Is Lin returning soon?"

"No. I will stay there for a while longer."

Mai went off to speak with Lin, but soon enough-although not for Ayako- Naru came out from his office.

"Ah, finally! What were you doing?!"

"I don't remember making this a meeting place, so you have no right to complain about anything." He replied bluntly and Mai tried to calm Ayako down.

"Well, since we're all here, let's go." Yasu said as he helped me up from the couch.

John went to go catch a cab and Monk went to his car, offing me a ride back, but I denied him.

"Nah. I'm okay. I'm headed somewhere else anyway."

He seemed confused and suspicious, but didn't question it. "Ah. Okay. See you later then."

"Yup."

As they all headed out, I gave Yasu one last kiss before hailing a taxi and heading out to a discrete motorcycle lot nearby that a friend of mine owned. Paying for my bike and helmet, I plopped myself on the back and began my long journey back to the lake. _I'll find her. No matter what, Gene._


End file.
